Justice League Begins
by Aurora Nightstar
Summary: Lex suspects he is about to be betrayed by his former unseen ally in his conspiracy against Superman, so he seeks help from unexpected sources. As Batman attempts to assemble his league of superheroes, his past continues to haunt him.
1. troubling meeting for Lex

**A few days after Superman's supposed Funeral**

A troubling meeting for Lex

Lex was handcuffed and brought to a secured room. There was a layer of safety glass and strong walls dividing the room. "I am Vincent Howe, of Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe attorneys at law. You are in the best hands. None of my clients ever do any prison time. I know the trial will go your way," Vincent Howe declared.

"Maybe you mistook this place for the line at Space Mountain, but in case you haven't noticed, I am already doing prison time, and I haven't even had my trial yet. Get me out of here," Lex demanded.

"You won't be here for long, and more importantly, you will win your day in court," Mr. Howe declared with an air of confidence. "Two of the key witnesses against you have already met with an unfortunate end. Real tragedy, but it will serve your case well."

"Mr. Luthor, if I may," the other man began to speak.

"Who are you?" Lex asked.

"Dr. Milton Fine, I will be doing your psychological evaluation for the courts," Milton declared.

"Really." Lex leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "Nice to finally meet you in the flesh. I have heard so much about you. I would shake your hand, but…" He pointed out the wall in the way. "Would you excuse us? I would like to speak to Mr. Fine in private," Lex flicked his fingers indicating that his lawyer should go away.

"Anything you say to him, you can say in front of me," Mr. Howe declared.

"Go!" Lex screeched out in a demanding tone. Vincent put his hands up indicating a form of surrender. "Now!" Lex commanded. Vincent left.

"Now, like I was saying, you are safer in prison then you are out on the streets. Unfortunately, not everything went to plan. Your last conversation with Superman went viral, right off your own security cameras to an internet sensation. The world knows you sent that monster after Superman. Not too surprisingly, membership for the cult of Superman worshippers is on the rise. They labeled you a modern day Judas and they will likely seek revenge. Once you do finally get out of here, be careful," Milton warned.

"Oh, I am used to having people trying to kill me. I will be alright," Lex affirmed.

"You did your part wonderfully," Milton began to flatter Lex.

"Your instructions were perfect. Even the creation of Doomsday went exactly as you told me. How do you know so much about the Kryptonain space ship?" Lex asked.

"I have my sources," Milton refused to answer the question. "I still wish Batman got the 'credit' for killing him. But no matter, I am confident the plan will still work."

Lex took a deep breath and paused for a moment. "What do you mean will still work? Didn't we already achieve our objectives?" Lex looked down at the handcuffs that bound him knowing full well this was not part of his plan.

"Not by a long shot." Milton shook his head and watched curiously as Lex nodded. "You were and still are a vital part of the plan," Milton told Lex.

"What else do I need to do?" Lex asked.

"For now it is best if you don't know. Even the bat of Gotham can't beat information out of you that you don't have." Milton looked Lex in the eye.

"You know he visited me in prison don't you," Lex asked.

"I suspected he might," Milton answered.

"You are underestimating me. I can stand up to torture. I had plenty of practice at that growing up. You can tell me." Lex pointed at Milton.

"When your time comes, you will know. I will take care of you," Milton declared with a nod.

"We are far too much alike. I know what you are really saying," Lex said as his hand formed into a fist which he slammed down on the table in from of him.

"You are much smarter than the average human. Now any idea where Superman's body was buried? Do you know? The Metropolis burial site is just an empty casket," Milton informed.

"Looks like someone else beat you to it," Lex declared. "Why do you need to know?"

Milton paused for a moment thinking about his answer. "Just making sure the dead stays dead. We don't want a second Doomsday," Milton told Lex.

"Of course not! You are looking out for the best interest of humanity. How noble of you. Maybe I do want a second Doomsday!" Lex narrowed his eyes at Milton.

"That won't be in my evaluation." Milton chuckled at what Lex had said and swayed his head gently from side to side.

"Oh no, do make sure you put that in there. Underline it! High light it! Just so you remember it," Lex ordered.

"Do you realize what you are saying?" Milton asked.

"Yes I do. The real question is do you, Dr. Fine?" Lex ominously asked as he leaned forward and looked him in the eye. "Do you have any idea who I would send another one after, Dr. Fine?"

"I will keep that in mind in my evaluation." Milton spoke with an eerie calmness about him. "I understand. You want me to find you crazy and unsuitable to stand trial! You will be taken care of. Your case won't even make it to court," Milton promised.

"I think that is enough for now. Send my lawyer back in on your way out," Lex commanded. Milton took a few moments to memorize every detail of Lex's face before finally complying with Lex's request.

Mr. Howe returned. "I hope you will be pleased to know, we are requesting a hearing to have your bail reduced. The judge was being ridiculous. You and Bruce Wayne combined couldn't afford that bail."

"Whatever, listen very carefully, go to the daily planet and tell Perry White that Lex Luther would like an interview with their star reporter Lois Lane." Lex looked him in the eye.

Mr. Howe chuckled at that. "If she shows you want us to take care of her, right?" Mr. Howe winked at Lex.

"What do you mean if she shows? I am Lex Luthor of course she will show." Lex nodded. "Her boss will practically force her to do it."

"I will definitely pass your message along, but don't count on it," Mr. Howe shook his head.

* * *

 **Lex Corps. Office**

At Lex Corps offices, two employees Racheal and Paul, were talking. "What happens to our jobs if Lex stays in prison?" Racheal asked.

"Prison, I heard they are going for the death penalty," Paul touted.

"He deserves it, but what about us? I need this job," Racheal declared. The door to the elevator opened and outstepped Lex. Racheal's face went white as she imagined he just heard what she had just said.

"Enough with the chit-chat, back to work." Lex clapped his hands together.

"Out on bail, sir?" Paul asked.

"Right you are," Lex grinned. "Chop, chop, back to work both of you." Lex sauntered into his office and closed the door behind him and locked it. He turned on the computer. He opened the case and touched the hard drive directly for a few moments. Then he scanned around the office. He removed a picture from the wall revealing a safe behind it. He ripped the door off the safe with ease. He grabbed a flash drive from the safe and quickly looked through some papers. He sloppily put the picture back up on the wall and stashed the safe door under the desk.

Lex left his private office and headed straight for the elevator. Racheal followed him. "Everything alright sir? We heard a noise," she asked. Lex stared her down frightening her. "Never mind. I will just get back to work." She returned to her desk.

Paul was on the phone watching as the door to the elevator closed. "Thank you." Paul hung up the phone. "Lex has a hearing today to get his bail reduced," Paul told Racheal. They both looked at the elevator door then at each other with a wide eyed expression and dropped jaws.

* * *

A/N

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Who would Lex send a second Doomsday after? Why does Lex want an interview with Lois Lane?


	2. Central City

**Chapter 2 Unexpected Encounter in Central City**

One Week After Superman's supposed Death

Batman visited Central City in hopes of finding one of the meta-humans he learned about from the files he stole from Lex. From the roof top, he spotted a tall and husky brute of a guy wearing a ski mask and holding a gun at the head of a teen age girl and another man. "Give me your wallet," the brute demanded of a guy standing next to her. "Or blondie here gets it!"

Barry Allen also noticed this little incident from across the street. He was about to run and knock the gun out of the brute's hand too.

No way was Batman going to let these two die the same way his parents did. He swung down from the roof top. The girl jumped up and hi-kicked the gun out of his hand. Barry already darted across the street in record time. He was also aiming for the gun but managed to back out last second before he would have been kicked in the head. The guy with her picked up the gun and crushed it in his bare hands turning it into a ball. "I was coming over to help you guys, but obviously you don't need it." The guy, the girl and Barry all turned facing him. Batman's jaw dropped as he realized who the man was. "Clark!" Batman called out.

Clark glanced over at him. He suddenly tensed up as vivid images entered his head of Batman standing over him with a spear about to impale him. He looked to the young lady with him. "Run!" Clark quietly told her before dashing off himself. Barry's jaw dropped as he watched Clark run away. Barry previously believed nobody came close to matching his speed.

"We got to wait for…" the teenage girl rolled her eyes and stopped talking as she realized Clark was long gone.

Batman knew there was no way he could catch him on foot, but he was still surprised he didn't take to the skies. "Not the reaction I was hoping for. Did he forget he can fly?" Batman mumbled to himself.

Despite how quietly Batman said that, the teenage girl heard him perfectly. "Yeah, he pretty much forgot everything. Amnesia, I think they call it. He must have really been through something."

"You could say that." Batman was surprised she actually heard him.

The gun wasn't the brute's only weapon. He pulled out a knife and tried to sneak up on the teenage girl. "Do you have a death wish or are you just stupid?" The girl exclaimed as she reached behind her.

"What?" Batman wasn't sure who she was talking to.

She grabbed the brute by the shirt and flipped him around her body and to the ground taking full advantage of centrifugal force. She picked up the former gun that was now more like a ball. "See what happened to your gun? Funny thing, he could have just as easily done that to your skull. You might want to think about that before you try anything like that again!" She chucked the gun at him, hitting him in the leg. He let out a yelp.

"Ok! You definitely don't need my help!" Batman reiterated.

"A pretty girl you are, but you are definitely no damsel in distress. My name is Barry." He extended his hand intending to shake her hand.

"Nice to meet you Barry." She cautiously took his hand and shook it.

"And you are?" Barry questioned.

"Late for an appointment." She looked over Batman smiling. She raised a brow.

"Ok! I was actually asking your name." Barry then looked over at Batman too.

"Yeah, I knew that." She twirled her hair as she looked Batman up and down.

"Awesome meeting you both, but I think I am going to try and catch up to your friend and challenge him to a race," Barry told the teenage girl.

Batman laughed. "Yeah, good luck with that." His jaw dropped as he Barry moved so fast all he saw was a blur, then he disappeared completely in the distance. He realized that was the very meta-human he was looking for. "Looks like it is just me and …me," as he looked around and realized the teenage girl and the brute both appeared to be gone too.

* * *

 **In the middle of nowhere**

Clark quickly put a significant distance between himself and the city. He thought he wasn't followed, but quickly learned he was wrong. "It is a pleasure to meet you. I thought I was the only one," Barry shook Clark's hand.

"Name is Kal," Clark told him.

"Kal? That is odd, I could have sworn Batman called you Clark." Barry wrinkled his brow.

"He has me mixed up with someone else, I think," Clark told Barry.

"What about that girl you were with?" Barry asked.

"Oh no, I left her with that… What did you call him? Batman?" Clark bowed his head down slightly.

"I wouldn't worry too much about her, she kicks ass." Barry gave Clark a slight pat on the back.

"That she does. I thought she would follow me!" Clark lifted his head up and again made eye contact.

"She probably couldn't. You are the fastest person I ever met. That is why I followed you. I was hoping I could challenge you to a race. I thought I was the fastest. Just want to see if that is still true."

"Ok, so this is about ego?" Clark tilted his head to side and looked at him.

"Maybe just a little." Barry grinned as he held his finger and his thumb a small distance from each other.

"Sure, why not? As long as it is away from Central City," Clark agreed. "I think that Batman wanted to kill me."

"Yikes! Yeah, if I thought Batman wanted to kill me, I would run too. He is one of the most dangerous men in the world. So, where would you like to go?" Barry asked.

Clark experienced another brief flash back. "Vegas! I remember something about hoping to go to Vegas."

"Las Vegas, Nevada," Barry told him. "Cool! You gamble?"

Clark thought for a moment. "I don't know," Clark questioned. "I have no idea. To tell you the truth I don't remember anything before last night."

"Oh, yeah right! The girl said something about you having amnesia." Barry nodded as he figured the directions to Las Vegas from his cell phone's GPS app and off they went.

* * *

 **Bruce met up with Diana back at Wayne Manor**

"There I was in Central City trying to find the super-fast meta-human. Which I think I did. Problem is his main power is speed. I realized it was him only after he ran away. From the roof top, I saw a masked guy trying to rob two people. I went in to help only to realize the guy the idiot was trying to rob was Superman. He wasn't wearing the costume or anything, but I know it was him."

"How is that possible?" Diana asked a rhetorical question.

"I don't know," Bruce said.

"Did you invite him to join?" Diana asked.

"Didn't get a chance to say much of anything. As soon as he saw me, he ran away," Bruce admitted.

"Oh, I guess he remembered you then." Diana laughed. "Why didn't you follow him?"

"Oh, yeah, why didn't I think of that? You try following someone who moves at light speed!" Bruce rolled his eyes at her.

"You said he ran away, not flew away right? Are you absolutely sure it was Superman?" Diana asked.

"I was wondering that myself. I think he forgot he can fly. The young lady with him confirmed it. He has amnesia," Bruce told him.

"A young lady with him? Lois isn't going to like that," Diana looked Bruce in the eye.

"Hopefully that isn't what is going on between them. She couldn't have been more than about sixteen, seventeen, tops! Besides, if I didn't know better, I think she was totally checking me out!" Bruce raised his hands in the air.

"You think every girl is checking you out." Diana leaned in closer. "Sad part is most of the time you are right!"

"Yes, but most of them are only interested in my bank account." Bruce looked down at the floor with that sobering thought.

"Yeah and you are only interested in getting in their pants," Diana teased.

"Don't believe everything you read," Bruce rolled his eyes at her.

"How many relationships have you had that lasted more than two weeks?" Diana asked.

"Enough with the personal questions. How do we track down a guy who probably doesn't want to be found?" Bruce asked.

"Unless he gains his memory back, we are basically looking for a needle in a hay stack. He could literally go anywhere. We have no chance of finding him again," Diana painfully stated the obvious. "But once he does get his memory back the first people he will want to see are Mrs. Kent and.."

"Lois Lane," Diana and Bruce both said in unison.

"I say we split up. You go to one, I will go to the other," Diana suggested.

"I agree. I will go to Smallville and see Mrs. Kent." Bruce found this an easy choice.  
Diana let out a slight laugh. "What?"

"Martha undoubtedly sees you as a hero," Diana said.

"Correction, she sees Batman as a hero. She thinks I was just a recent friend to her son. She doesn't know and she isn't going to," Bruce told her.

"My mistake. But more importantly, there is a possibility Lois partly blames you for what happened," Diana stated rather bluntly.

"Glad you understand," Bruce interrupted her as he knew exactly what she was going to say.

* * *

a/n

I could have sworn it was in the movie where Martha Kent and Bruce Wayne met around the time of Clark's funeral. I can see it a bit too clearly in my head.

Martha said something to him like 'I didn't know my son had such influential friends'

Bruce replied 'It is a recent friendship'

Yet it wasn't in either the original version, nor the extended version when I got the DVD. I must have read this in somebody's fan fic. If anybody knows where I got this from, please, send me a private message. This was the assumption I was going with in my story.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Again, I would love to know what you thought. Any guesses as to who the blond is? Any guesses as to why Clark might be interested in going to Las Vegas?


	3. A Chance Encounter in Smallville

Bruce wasted no time getting to Smallville. He had not seen Mrs. Kent since the funeral. He wasn't even sure exactly what he was going to say. Martha answered the door and invited him in with a warm smile. "Good to see you again. I wasn't sure I would. Please come in."

Bruce walked in. "I don't know how to tell you this but," he began. Then there was a second knock at the door.

"Grand central today," Martha joked. "Just one second. Hold that thought." She opened the door revealing a very beautiful brunette standing there.

"Mrs. Kent, may I come in?" she asked.

"Yes, of course." Martha waved her on in.

She saw Bruce standing there. "Oh, I didn't realize you had company. I will come back later." She looked at Bruce and then turned around again to head out.

"Hold on a sec, aren't you going to introduce us?" Bruce requested of Martha. His jaw dropped slightly as he took a few steps toward her. He couldn't help but notice her beauty.

"Oh, yes of course, this is Lana Lang." Martha introduced her with a bit of a smirk. "Lana, this is…"

"Bruce Wayne, I know. I would pretty much have to be living in a cave not to recognize you." Lana interrupted. Bruce's expression changed to of a bit of a scowl as he wondered if she knew something she shouldn't with the cave reference. "Your reputation precedes you."

"Oh, that isn't necessarily a good thing." Bruce made light of everything the tabloids and Diana had to say about him.

"I am sure it is all exaggerated. I can tell you one thing for sure, your pictures don't do you justice." Lana bit her lip as she couldn't believe she just said that out loud. "I will just swing by later. It is really a pleasure meeting you Mr. Wayne." Lana smiled at Bruce.

"Likewise, please call me Bruce," Bruce insisted as they shook hands.

Lana then turned to Mrs. Kent. "Please call me later? It is important. It is about Clark," Lana told Mrs. Kent.

"About Clark," Martha questioned. "You definitely have my curiosity."

"Mine too! That is actually why I am here. Did you see him recently?" Bruce slightly raised his voice.

Lana stopped right in front of the door. She nodded. She didn't mean to but she was the worst at lying. "Um," was about all that managed to pass her lips. She wanted to say no.

"What?!" Martha exclaimed as she looked Bruce in the eye. "Clark is…" She paused as she did not want to finish that sentence.

Bruce put his hand up like a stop signal used by police. "No, he is not! That is what I came here to tell you."

"Yeah, me too!" Lana said with a bit of a laugh.

"I wish he would come and tell me himself, so I know he is alright," Martha's voice bordered on pleading, even though neither of them could do a thing about it.

"I was going to bring him home to you last night, but some girl whisked him away!" Lana stated.

"Let me guess. Young about sixteen, blonde, pretty, not as pretty as you of course, but pretty," Bruce grinned at her.

"Thanks, and yeah that does sound like her." Lana smiled at Bruce.

"Any idea who she is?" Bruce asked.

"Nope," Martha and Lana both declared.

"Why didn't Clark come home?" Martha wondered. She took a few steps toward her phone. "Maybe he went to Lois first. I should give her a call."

"Don't bother. He didn't come to you because he forgot everything, total amnesia. He doesn't remember Lois either. I am certain he will contact you, if he gets his memory back, that is. Please have him give me a call if he does." Bruce wrote his personal cell phone number on the back of one of his business cards. "Use the number on the back."

"What do you want to speak to him about?" Martha took the business card from Bruce.

Bruce thought for a moment. "I think I can help him with the legal stuff, like getting rid of that death certificate." Even though Bruce fully intended to actually do this, he still felt this was a lie because that wasn't the primary reason he wanted to speak to her son.

"Sure," she said slowly with an ambiguous expression.

"Who is Lois?" Lana asked.

"Clark's girlfriend. He was hoping to marry her, but he never got around to asking." Martha smiled.

"Oh! For the longest time I had hoped I would be the one to become your daughter in-law." Lana looked at Martha with a beautiful smile.

"He is in a very serious relationship," Bruce reminded her.

"I know. He was always cute, but after the incident on the school bus, I knew Clark was really something special." Lana smiled.

"I think you swallowed too much water that day. You didn't see what you thought you did." Martha remembered the difficulty she had explaining the incident away to Mrs. Ross.

"How do you know?" Lana began to ask.

"Mrs. Ross told me," Martha interrupted.

"What did you think you saw?" Bruce asked Lana.

"One day on the ride home from school, our bus spun out of control and went over a bridge and straight into a lake. Water poured in from everywhere. I was never so scared in my life. I thought I was going to drown. But then everything was ok again, I breathed a sigh of relieve as the water cleared out. I looked out the back door of the bus and there was Clark, actually pushing the bus out of the lake." Lana clasped her hands together over her heart and looked up.

"I know that is what you thought you saw." Martha looked down at the floor.

"I think Mrs. Kent is right. You swallowed too much water." Bruce looked Lana in the eye and very slightly shook his head side to side. Martha repressed a sigh of relief and looked up at Bruce. Bruce turned his head toward Martha and winked. Martha's eyes opened wide. Her hand went up covering her mouth and she looked at the floor again.

"I don't think so. If I imagined it, I would have been the only one to see it, but Pete saw it too. I tried to talk to Clark about it at least a few times. Every single time, he would always change the subject." Lana shook her head slightly.

Mrs. Kent thought changing the subject was a fabulous idea. Martha looked to Lana. "Bruce where Lana met up with Clark last night, I think there is a possibility he will come back looking for her. You might want to give her your phone number too," Mrs. Kent suggested.

"And now I know where he gets it!" Lana put her hand on her hip.

"Very good point." Bruce wrote his phone number down on the back of another business card and handed it to Lana. She immediately added it to her contacts on her cell phone. "Any chance on getting your phone number too? I would love to see you again. Maybe take you out for dinner, dancing and who knows what else." Bruce helped with changing the subject.

"I would love that." Lana smiled as she wrote her phone number down for him.

"Call me any time," Bruce told Lana.

"Now I really should get going before I am late for work." Lana headed for the door. She stopped just before leaving and took one last look at Bruce before finally going. Bruce smiled back at her.

"Thank you for everything." Bruce shook Mrs. Kent's hand before leaving.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank both the people who reviewed my story so far. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Again, I would love to know what you thought. Do you think Bruce and Lana would make a good couple?


	4. Finding Lois Lane

**Finding Lois Lane**

 **The Daily Planet**

Diana first tried the Daily Planet to find Lois Lane. As she walked in, a guy introduced himself to her. "Hi, name is Lombard, Steve Lombard." Steve glanced at her with a slightly raised brow.

"Diana Prince." Diana cracked a smile as just hearing the name Steve reminded her of another Steve she knew and loved a long time ago. Steve had far more ego then brains. He mistook this smile for genuine interest.

"Are you Perry White?" Mr. Howe stepped in and interrupted them.

"No." Steve quickly answered his question then refocused his attention on Diana. "Care to join me for coffee."

"No, I am just looking for Lois Lane," Diana replied.

"Lois Lane? Is she here?" Mr. Howe asked.

"Lois has been out all week, on a personal leave I think, but I am available," Steve told Diana.

"Hey, stop drooling over the ladies and do your job." Mr. Howe shook his finger at Steve.

"Excuse me, who are you?" Steve glared at Mr. Howe.

"My name is Vincent Howe, Lex Luthor's attorney," Mr. Howe answered. The mention of the name Lex caught Diana's attention.

"If you are defending Mr. Luther, Ms. Lane will want nothing to do with you, but I am sure any other reporter would love to interview you," Steve told him.

"No way am I talking to any reporters. Lex is the one who wants the interview." Mr. Howe laughed. "I just hope he doesn't hurt my chances of winning his case."

"Wait, why would Lex want an interview with her?" Diana paused to process that.

"I have no idea," Steve answered Diana first. Then he turned to Mr. Howe. "She is on a personal leave of absence."

"This is Lex Luthor we are talking about. This is the interview of a life time. Any good reporter would be crazy not to jump at this," Mr. Howe declared.

"Men haven't changed. Do you really believe your own lie?" Diana narrowed her eyes at Mr. Howe.

"You are wasting your time! She will NEVER agree to this," Steve told him.

"I agree with you. Honestly, I hope you are right. This could really hurt my case, but I must do as my client asks. Can either of you help me find Perry White or not?" Mr. Howe demanded to know.

"She doesn't work here." Steve pointed to Diana. "But I can help you."

"I think I may have changed my mind about that coffee." Diana raised a brow as she looked at Steve. She followed them to Perry's office.

Once they reached his office, Perry was discussing things with a lady looking to be in her mid-thirties. "Jessica, what brings you here," Mr. Howe asked. He put his hand out expecting her to shake his hand.

"You can call me Ms. Snow." Jessica took a step back from him, crossed her arms and frowned slightly. "I am talking to Mr. White here about protecting my witnesses. Two of my witnesses have already disappeared. I am sure you wouldn't know anything about that. Now would you, Mr. Howe."

"I am sure I don't know what you are talking about." Mr. Howe looked out the window.

"Of course you don't." Jessica nodded her head.

"Lois Lane is one of your witnesses, isn't she?" Mr. Howe turned around and looked at Jessica.

"Mr. Luthor did push her off a building." Jessica nodded.

"What!" Perry, Diana, and Steve all called out at the same time.

"Allegedly," Mr. Howe said.

"When was this? Is she alright?" Perry picked up the phone.

"She is fine. Superman saved her. I really need to get in touch with her." Jessica looked Perry in the eye.

"He won't be doing that anymore," Mr. Howe grinned.

"And what are you going to do when it is you who needs a rescue?" Diana pointed at him.

"I like her." Jessica laughed.

"That makes two of us." Steve turned his attention to Diana. "Now about that coffee."

"I don't have time for it, I really have to go." Diana made a hasty retreat before Steve could say anything.

"I would like to place Miss Lane in witness protection. At least until the trial is over," Jessica told Perry.

"That pretty much answers my question." Mr. Howe left abruptly not even bothering to ask about Lex's request.

* * *

 **Lois's apartment**

Next, Diana tried Lois's apartment. She knocked on Lois's door, but there was no answer. Diana was persistent and kept knocking. Diana picked the lock and let herself in. She quickly looked around the entire apartment just to make sure nobody was home, which no one was. Lois's apartment was very clean but also cluttered with photo albums which mostly contained pictures of her life with Clark. Diana looked through them rather quickly.

Diana saw a huge pile of mail. She quickly thumbed through it. Most of it was fliers and the usual advertising. Diana's cell phone rang with the caller id indicating it was Bruce Wayne. So she picked it up right away. "Hey. How did it go with Mrs. Kent?"

"Great, she agreed to contact me, if he contacts her. I even met a beautiful young lady too," Bruce told her.

"Oh!" Diana just rolled her eyes at that. She didn't want to hear about his latest bimbo. "Well, I am not having any luck with Lois. I tried to find her at the Daily Planet. She basically hasn't been there since Superman's death. I am in her apartment now."

"What did she say," Bruce asked.

"She isn't here," Diana said.

"So, you broke into her place," Bruce questioned with a slight bit of an accusing tone.

"I let myself in. You would have done the same thing." Diana was not about to take any judgmental crap from him.

"I did take a quick look around. I don't think she is moving on well. She didn't clear out his closet. She has photo albums out, mostly of her and Clark. Looks like mostly vacation photos and office party pictures. The mail is mostly just flyers, some sympathy cards, something addressed to Clark Kent from the Metropolis Auction House." Diana shuffled through some envelopes as she spoke.

"What does that one say?" Bruce asked.

"I don't know. It isn't even opened," Diana said.

"Well, open it," Bruce told her.

"No. You are not my boss. I don't want her realizing anyone was here," Diana stated her reservation about this. "Somebody is coming." She dropped the auction house envelope on top of the pile and quickly hid in the closet.

Lois came in talking on her cell phone. "Bruce Wayne, what did he want?... You are kidding? Are you sure?…Absolutely, if I hear from him, I will definitely let you know. ….. Yes, No, I don't know. If he comes back to me, I think Clark and I are going to need to have a very serious talk. Is it really worth it for us to stay together? … Of course I want to marry him… The problem is his life was put in danger purely because of me…. Because it is true." Bruce was still on Diana's cell phone and heard every word. Then Diana heard a door close as Lois went into the bathroom. Diana took that opportunity to sneak out again.

"Are you still there?" Diana started to talk on the phone again as she walked down the hall of the apartment building.

"Of course I am," Bruce answered.

"Looks like neither of us need to talk to her. Martha took care of that for us. Unfortunately, I don't think she is going to help us." Diana made her way outside. "It sounds like they might be breaking up anyway."

"I know. I heard the whole thing. I can't believe I was actually worried she would somehow blame me. She blames herself. That is totally absurd. We both should talk to her. Those two breaking up is probably one of the worst things that could possibly happen," Bruce insisted as he remembered that cryptic message saying something about Lois Lane being the 'key'. "Go back and knock. Pretend like you just got there. I am going to be there in about two minutes."

"Change your tone. I am not one of your employees. You can't order me around," Diana warned him.

"You are right." He hung up the phone because now she was in view. "Let's go together." He then begrudgingly added a word he rarely had to say. "Please."

"Alright," Diana agreed. They knocked on the door.

Lois answered. "Oh, I will call you back. Mr. Wayne is here now." She ended the call.

"Come on in," Lois said. "Please excuse the mess. I wasn't expecting any company." She started to pick up her photo albums and putting them away. "I think I know what this is about. Martha already told me. But I want details. Where did you see him? When did you see him?" Lois began putting her photo albums away.

"You are a reporter! Of course you want details." Bruce smiled.

"Yes, but I will not be reporting this. I am not going to make the same mistake twice." Lois nodded. "I will not put Clark in any danger again."

"You put him in danger. I don't buy that!" Bruce shook his head no.

"If he stayed completely out of the lime-light, like he wanted to, none of this ever would have happened. He would have been safe if he stayed away from me." Lois bowed her head down.

"No, it wasn't your fault." Diana gently patted Lois on the back.

"I wish that were actually true." Lois looked down at her answering machine. "But it isn't." She walked over to her answer machine and pushed the play button.

Lex's voice came on in a very saccharine sweet tone. "Lois, this is your old buddy Lex. My condolence on your recent loss. But I really had to thank you. You made it so easy for me to find him. All I had to do was keep tabs on the reporter who knew who he was. You lead me right to him. I know if it weren't for you, I never would have found him. I never would have found out who he really was. It was all possible because of you. For that I sincerely thank you. Have a good night." The sweet tone of Lex's voice suddenly changed to blood curling and vindictive as he concluded his message. "Sweet dreams."

"That son of bitch! Don't listen to Lex. He is lying. I really doubt he was spying on you, besides how would he even know you would know who he was?" Bruce tried to reason with her.

"You mean other than it being flat out said on national news?" Lois shook her head.

"I didn't see that, but then I am not from around here," Diana said.

"Neither did I, thankfully. If I had, I probably would have had spies watching your every move too," Bruce responded a bit too honestly.

"What?" Lois spun around and glared at him. She dropped the book she was putting away.

"What the.." Diana too glared at Bruce. Diana put her hands in the air with open palms facing up as her jaw dropped.

"Like I said, I am glad I didn't do that," Bruce told Lois.

"Whatever!" Lois said as she continued to put away photo albums.

"When was this anyway?" Bruce asked.

"It was about two years ago. Biggest mistake I ever made. I went to Glen Woodburn, an internet blogger with a story my editor refused to print. He betrayed me, basically telling the whole world I knew who the guy was General Zod was looking for. Lex obviously was watching." Lois remembered that moment when she first heard that broadcast.

"In all the files from Lex's computer, did Lex have any files on Superman? If Lex was really spying on them that long, you would think there would be," Diana asked.

"No, there was nothing on him," Bruce responded. "That is a very good point."

"So, he erased them," Lois suggested.

"To do that, Lex would have had to know his files were about to be compromised," Diana reasoned.

"That would explain why Lex's security team did nothing about me being there. He knew I wouldn't learn anything he didn't want me to," Bruce began to realize.

"Wouldn't surprise me one bit if that were true," Lois agreed.

"If you hear from Clark, would you have him give us a call," Diana requested.

"I will pass the message on." Lois averted her eyes to them. No way am I setting the love of my life up for another trap, she thought to herself.

"Perfect, that is all we can ask," Bruce said. "If we find him before you do, we will let you know."

"There is no chance that is going to happen," Diana reminded Bruce.

"What? You wouldn't tell me if you found him," Lois glared at Diana.

"Oh no, that isn't what I meant." Diana assured her. "I am saying there is no chance we will find him first."

"There is a long shot, and her name is Lana Lang," Bruce told Diana. "He met her last night. There is a chance he will look for her again."

"Who?" Diana questioned.

"Lana Lang! Oh, no!" Lois sank down into a chair.

"Somebody you know?" Diana asked.

"I never met her, but Clark mentioned her once or twice. His High School crush," Lois said.

"I will do my best to keep her interests away from him," Bruce smirked.

"What would Clark think of you dating Lana," Diana looked out the window.

"Once he has Lois back, I doubt he would care," Bruce answered her.

Lois's cell phone rang. She glanced at it realizing it was from work. "It is my boss, I have to take this." She swiped the screen to accept the call. "Hi Perry!" Lois listened to something Perry Said. "You have got to be kidding. There is no way I am doing that." Lois raised her voice.

Diana nodded as she watched Lois believing she knew what that was about. Bruce looked between Diana and Lois feeling a bit out of the loop.

"Seriously, the timing really couldn't be worse. Absolutely not." Lois listened for a response.

"What does timing have to do with it?" Diana asked quietly as she was no longer so sure she knew what this was about.

"I can't even do that. Ok, I will stay away from the Daily Planet. Bye." Lois ended the call.

"Why would you have to stay away from the Daily Planet," Diana asked.

"Don't worry about it. It isn't your problem." Lois went around closing all the shades and curtains. "I am not giving in to them." Lois began going through her mail.

"What?" Diana and Bruce both exclaimed as they looked at each other and then back at Lois.

"Is this about Lex?" Diana asked.

"Yes, I will be testifying in the court case against Lex Luthor. Many others were supposed to testify, two were found murdered. A district attorney visited the Daily Planet and gave an order that I am not to return to work until the trial is over. They want me in witness protection. No way in hell. If Clark comes back looking for me, I need him to be able to find me," Lois whipped several old flyers into the waste basket.

"You are going to risk your life just to be with him," Bruce questioned.

"Wouldn't be the first time." Lois slammed more flyers in the trash.

"What if he comes back here and finds you dead? Then what?" Diana asked.

"Bad news for the world," Bruce declared as he remembered his nightmare.

"I don't like what you are implying." Lois glared at Bruce.

"All I am saying is he needs to find you alive and well. I got an idea. What if we set up security cameras and a silent alarm here and you stay at my place. That way you are safe from intruders and if he shows up, you can call him," Bruce pointed to the answering machine.

"Now that is a good idea," Diana smiled at Bruce.

"Seriously? Why would you do that," Lois asked. She saved out the auction house letter and organized her bills so she could pay them latter.

"I want to find him almost as badly as you do," Bruce told her.

"Why do you want to find him?" Lois asked.

"Just start packing. I am not taking no for an answer," Bruce pulled out his cell phone and began making some phone calls. Diana rolled her eyes at Bruce.

"I really think this is in your own best interest." Diana tried to reassure Lois.

Lois opened the Metropolis Auction house letter. She quickly read the letter and then pulled a check. Her jaw dropped as she looked at the amount. She quickly stuffed the contents back into the envelope and put that in her pocket book. Lois packed a few things before leaving with Bruce. Diana stayed behind to set up the security system.

* * *

a/n

I greatly appreciate the review again La Vik. Your story actually inspired a small part of this one. Particularly the comment Bruce made that pissed off both Lois and Diana. I appreciate those who have chosen to follow this story too. Thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Again, I would love to know what you thought. What did you think of the message Lex left on Lois's answering machine? Or Bruce's claim that he would have spied on her too if he knew she knew who Superman was?


	5. Next Stop Wayne Manor

Lois traveled light. She only took one small bag. Bruce took the possibility of Lois being spied on semiseriously. He watched for others in the hallway. For the most part, everything was quite. As they exited the building, he noticed a gentleman standing on his balcony watching them as they left. Bruce looked right at him for about a minute. Then the gentleman disappeared inside closing the curtain behind him. Bruce noticed the curtain was still open, just a tiny crack. He imagined they were still being watched.

Bruce hailed down a taxi and as they got inside, Bruce noticed the gentleman returned to the balcony, this time in the company of a teenage girl. From this distance, Bruce couldn't be sure but she definitely reminded him of the same girl he saw with Clark in Central City. "The two on the balcony," Bruce pointed out. "Do you know who they are?"

"I don't know his name, but he moved in about two years ago. He mostly keeps to himself. I sometimes she him in passing. One time the mail man accidently put our mail in his box. He did come by to return it." Lois was really glad that didn't happen with the letter from the Auction house. "As for the girl, never saw her before. Why?"

"Where are you going," the taxi driver asked Bruce.

"Wayne Towers," Bruce answered. Then as the taxi began to pull away, he turned to Lois to actually answer her question. "I can't be sure, but I think that is the girl I saw in Central City with your boyfriend."

"What?" Lois tried to look again, but as the car rounded a corner, they disappeared from view. Lois turned to look at Bruce again with a wide eyed expression.

The taxi driver had the radio on. "And in other news, Mr. Luther's private office at LexCorps was broken into. No statement has been released as to whether or not anything was actually stolen or what damage was actually done. Two LexCorps employees have been held for questioning. The police have no leads at this time." Bruce and Lois exchanged a glance as they listened to the broadcast.

It wasn't far; the taxi driver dropped them off at Wayne towers. Bruce paid the taxi driver. As they walked in the building, Bruce got on his cell phone. He called someone he knew at the Metropolis PD. Lois followed him straight to the elevator. All Lois knew for sure was that he asked about the break in at LexCorps. Lois wished she could actually hear the other side of the conversation like Clark would have been able to if he were here. She wasn't quite sure why she would care if someone robbed Lex. After all he did to her, she couldn't help but feel bitter toward him, like he deserved it. Bruce got off the phone. "Interesting. According to the two LexCorps employees the perpetrator looked and acted exactly like Lex Luther. They thought he was out on bail. Definitely wasn't. Whoever did this, literally ripped the door off his safe in Lex's office. Several valuable item were ignored, so they are not even sure if anything was actually stolen. Oh and Lex's personal computer was turned on and the case taken off. That is just weird," Bruce told Lois quickly what he had learned from his phone call.

"Who would do that and why?" Lois asked.

"Not that many people could do that. Most people are not strong enough to rip off a safe door," Bruce said as he immediately thought of Clark as being one who could.

Lois had a feeling she knew what he was thinking, but did not want to say it. "And who would be capable of impersonating Lex Luther?" Lois attempted to take this discussion in a different direction. "If the LexCorps employees were telling the truth..."

Bruce could see immediately where she was going with that. "Actually the police thought that too. That is why they were held over for questioning. They will know for sure once they see the security footage," Bruce told her.

"I would like to see that footage," Lois said.

"As would I," Bruce led Lois up a flight of stairs. He opened a door. They step out on to the roof.

Lois could feel a breeze as they stepped outside. Lois looked down at the city below. She remembered vividly that day Lex pushed her off the roof at LexCorps. "What are we doing up here?" Lois asked nervously.

"Taking a ride." Bruce pointed to his helicopter. They both emerged out of the shadow of the stairwell and into direct sun light. As Lois had been for the most part cooped up in her apartment most of the week. She had to admit the open air, the cool breeze and the warmth of the sun all felt pretty refreshing. She felt a sense of hope as Bruce helped her into the helicopter.

Bruce took his place in the driver's seat and made his way toward his home. Lois began to ponder everything. She remembered last time she flew over the large bay that separated Metropolis from Gotham city. Last time she couldn't appreciate the beauty of the lake or the sight of birds flying by. She saw the birds as ultimately free. Free to go about as they pleased moving from one place to another on a whim. That was the way Clark used to be before her. He would stay at one place for a short time. Once he used his power, usually to help someone in need, then he would move on to another city or town with not so much as a word to anyone. He didn't even use his real name. He left no paper trail to follow, nothing but stories. If he had only stayed like that, he would have been impossible for someone like Lex to ever catch. The world thinks Superman is dead, Lois thought it best it stayed that way.

The reflection of the sun refracted by the diamond on Lois's finger caught her eye. She imagined rejecting Clark's marriage proposal. She sighed and fought back tears. She knew deep down that she truly loved Clark. She cared more about him then she did herself. If she walked away from him, she knew she would regret it for the rest of her life. He was the best thing that ever happened to her. The last two years with him had been wonderful.

Yet with Lana Lang, she just may have lost her ability to even have a choice. Clark who once described Lois as his world, now didn't even remember his life with her. He met Lana last night, a young lady he admired for years long before he ever met Lois. If Bruce Wayne asked her out, Lana must still be extremely beautiful. She knew she could not compete in a beauty contest with any of the women Bruce typically dated. Bruce described Lana as his long shot to finding Clark. Ace in the hole was more like it! Of course Clark will be looking for her again. It is just a matter of time.

Bruce landed the helicopter at Wayne Manor. Bruce gave Lois a slight nudge. "We are here." Bruce told her.

"Oh." Lois recovered from being lost in thought.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked. Lois shook her head no.

"Don't worry, we will find him." Bruce smiled at her.

"I am not so sure," Lois began. She was going to say that we shouldn't even try.

Bruce thought she was done with that statement so he interrupted. "Have a little faith," Bruce tried to assure her.

"Faith" Lois scoffed at the irony of Clark's sacrifice helped to restore Bruce's faith in humanity while at the same time, the mere fact that he was put in that situation in the first place, was zapping hers. She wanted to deny how much Lex had made her lose faith in humanity. She feared that if the world knew Clark was still alive, he would inevitably be stuck in the same horrible situation again. "What was the deal about Central City," Lois asked in an attempt to change the subject.

"That is where I saw him. He was with a young lady. He took off before I could have a real conversation with him, unfortunately," Bruce told her. "It was the young lady with him that told me he lost his memory. She took off too, so not much more to tell then that."

"If the girl you saw in Central City with Clark really was the same girl on the balcony that can't be a coincidence," Lois reasoned.

"Obviously." Bruce agreed. "But like I said, I can't be sure of that. I didn't get a good enough look at her." Bruce grabbed Lois's bag and brought her inside. "Listen one idea I really want to get out of your head. That is that anything that happened to him was your fault."

"You heard the message from Lex." Lois reminded him.

"Yeah, but even without you, I am pretty sure Lex would have found him anyway." Bruce led Lois down a dimly lit hallway. "I probably would have too." Bruce realized that last part was probably too much information. "Moving on." He led her up a flight of stairs.

"I really doubt it. Before me, he relocated more often than most people change their bed sheets! Even if Lex threaten people to tell him where he went, that would be useless, nobody actually knew," Lois informed him.

"Really?" Bruce began to contemplate how he would have found him and couldn't come up with anything. Even with the glowing green rock Superman was obviously allergic to, he would have needed to get pretty close to him for that to even be an effective weapon. He knew Superman found him, not the other way around. Bruce was pretty sure Superman would have never came to him were it not for Lex holding a gun to his mother's head. "You held a gun to his head and forced him to change all that right?" Bruce couldn't hold a straight face saying as he seen firsthand how useless a weapon a gun was on Superman.

"Yeah right, like that would even work," Lois scoffed at him.

"Exactly, sounds to me like he made a choice. Wasn't your fault at all," Bruce told her.

"Oh so now we are blaming Clark?" Lois put her hand on her hip and glared at him as they continued down another dark passage.

"If I have to blame someone, I am blaming Lex," Bruce told her. "I will make a bet with you. If I can find him again, let that prove it can be done and it wasn't your fault. You go full speed ahead. You remind him who is girlfriend is."

"What does that mean exactly? You want me to sleep with him," Lois guessed.

"If that is the fastest way to remind him who is girlfriend is, yes! But that wasn't what I meant." Bruce pointed to the ring on her finger.

"Oh, sorry!" she apologized as she knew she misjudged him.

"Don't be. Welcome to my guest room." Bruce opened a door.

"Wow!" Lois exclaimed as she walked into the room. His guest room was fit for a queen featuring a king sized bed, a large oak wood desk, and access to a private balcony overlooking the pool. The windows and sliding door to the balcony let in tunes of natural light. A large mirror and several beautiful paintings lined the walls.

"You have your own private bathroom." Bruce pointed a door. Then he pointed to another door. "And a walk-in closet. Here is the remote to the T.V."

"What TV?" Lois looked as she didn't see one. Then she hit power on the remote control. The mirror suddenly changed to function more like a television with a crisp and clear beautiful picture. "Nice!" She turned it off again.

"Alfred is down the hall if you need anything. Make yourself comfortable and feel free to use the pool." Bruce headed for the door.

"Thank you, I am still not sure why you are helping me, but thank you," Lois said.

"Because it is the right thing to do," Bruce told her. He only partly meant that, but he didn't want to tell her the whole truth.

"Now you are starting to sound like Clark." Lois snickered.

"Really?" Bruce couldn't quite put his finger on why, but he found that unnerving.

* * *

Thank you to those who have reviewed and those who put this story on follows. To my surprise someone even put this one as a favorite. Thanks very much to all of you. I really appreciated it.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Was Lois right in blaming herself for what happened to Clark? Why or why not?


	6. No Mercy for Lex

The solitary confinement was getting to Lex. He had no outside visible light so he even lost track of time. The food the prison served was very subpar, a far cry from the five star restaurant caliber food he was accustomed to. Lex tossed and turned trying to get comfortable on that miserable excuse for a bed this prison provided. Several police officers barged in. Two held him down while the other put handcuffs on him.

"Now what?" Lex demanded to know.

"You have another visitor," the officer declared.

"An attractive young lady," the second officer responded.

"It is about time," Lex smirked. He was expecting Lois Lane. They dragged him off to the same secured room he was brought to before to meet with his lawyers and Milton Fine. The police officers had no qualms about being ruff with Lex. They slammed him into his chair then added another handcuff to keep him in the chair.

"Guess who is back," a familiar woman's voice said coming from the other side of the wall. She laughed. "Seeing you pushed around like that, sure brings back memories, doesn't it?"

Lex looked up to see the woman on the other side of the glass. "That is impossible. You are dead!" Lex grimaced.

"You don't look happy to see me. You were expecting someone else? Ms. Lane perhaps?" the woman asked.

"Mercy, I am so relieved," Lex's eyes open wide.

"It is Mercedes now," Mercy declared.

"Mercedes, you think you are pretty special, don't you? No, it will always be Mercy to me, I thought you were killed in the explosion." Lex forced a smile.

"Next time you leave someone for dead, you better make sure they really are, or they just might come back to bite you in the ass." Mercy's eyes seem to sparkle at the thought of that. "The bat should take that warning too."

"Really, I thought you were dead. I even had flowers sent to your funeral," Lex informed her.

"How very thoughtful of you, that is so much more important than actually attending," Mercy responded with a hint of sarcasm.

"Why are you here? Hmm," Lex demanded to know.

"Oh, all business." Mercy put her arms under her chest and slightly forced up her bust line. "It wasn't always like that. Lex, I still get to call you Lex right?" Mercy leaned forward.

"If you can get me out of here, you can call me whatever you like." Lex gave her a romantic and smoldering look as he looked down her shirt.

"Give me one good reason why I should get you out of here." Mercy looked him in the eye. Her gaze drifted down his chest as she looked him all over. "You left me to die."

"You were nothing but a two bit thief when I met you. It was me that made you important. You owe me." Lex looked her in the eye.

"I owe you? You forget which side of the whip you are on." Mercy licked her lips.

"You forget who you were. You know I have more than enough info to destroy you." Lex reminded her narrowing his eyes.

"You mean like the info on this flash drive." Mercy held up the flash drive that Lex had locked in his safe at the office. "Why didn't you warn me about the explosion?"

"Senator Finch was going to rat me out, so I had to set the explosion. If I warned you about it, having the only woman I ever lo… cared about survive too, would just point the finger at me a bit too much, don't you think? I really felt your loss." Lex looked her in the eyes and blew her a kiss.

"You are laying it on thick," Mercy said.

"The charm?" Lex questioned.

"No, the bull shit," Mercy told him.

"Really? I know I had to clean up your dress and refine your fighting technique, but I never had to clean up that mouth of yours! Since when did you start swearing?" Lex smirked. He tried to cross his arms and found himself tugging against the handcuff. "You think you upgraded yourself to a Mercedes, hmm! I should report you for that stolen flash drive!" Lex tilted his head.

"You might want to rethink that," Mercy played a recording of Lex's confession about the explosion that he gave only moments earlier.

"Cunning as always. I am impressed," Lex glared at her as his hands clenched into fists. "Could I just see that tattoo of yours one more time? For old time sake?"

"I had it removed," Mercy answered.

"That would be pretty difficult to do considering Mercy never had a tattoo. Who are you?" Lex demanded to know.

"Who I am is not important? Unless you want this tape ending up in the prosecuting attorney's lap, you will not be talking to any reporters about your former alliances. Are we clear?" Mercy stared him down.

"Crystal." Lex's eyes lit up as he realized who this young lady most likely works for. "We got off on the wrong foot here. You are obviously very good at your job. I would like to hire you away from the competition. I can offer you amazing benefits, great pay and simple work." Lex leaned forward and looked her in the eyes. "I am sure I can double or even triple whatever Dr. Fine is paying you. You do work for him, don't you?"

Mercy looked Lex directly in the eye as if entering in a staring contest. "I am listening," she kept a straight face Lex could not read at all. Both stared for an awkward moment both expecting the other to speak first. "Well, what exactly do you want me to do?" Mercy finally asked.

"Dr. Fine trusts you right? Spy on him. Get me as much info on him as you can as quickly as you can." Lex continued to look her in the eye.

"What exactly do you want to know?" Mercy asked.

"Everything really. His friends, his family, his plans, his strengths, hopes, fears, dreams, vices and of course his weaknesses. Basically how to destroy him." Lex unclenched his fists and asked hopefully. "Are you interested?"

"Very," Mercy looked down at her watch and then back to Lex.

"Name your price," Lex demanded.

"Quarter of a million dollars," Mercy requested.

"That is it? You definitely have a deal." Lex laughed.

"In cash," Mercy added.

"No checks? I don't get your name in other words," Lex smiled and nodded.

"Exactly," Mercy nodded. "Do we still have a deal?"

"Definitely! It will take some time to get that cash together," Lex nodded.

"It will take me some time to get all your information together too," Mercy told him. "I would shake on it, but," Mercy pointed to the wall in the way.

"Hmm, yeah," Lex laughed.

"Do you have any specific questions," Mercy asked.

"Why does he know so much about Kryptonian technology?" Lex asked.

"That is an easy question. He is from Krypton," Mercy told him.

"That is what I suspected, but I wasn't sure. So probably same strengths and weaknesses as Superman," Lex nodded.

"Right," Mercy nodded and lips slightly turned up making a small smile. "No weakness for the people of this planet though. If you threaten to kill someone, he will probably beat you to the punch. If you threaten to blow up a city, he will grab the popcorn and get ready to watch the show, but other physical weaknesses, probably! Any other questions?"

"Why was he interested in where Superman was buried?" Lex asked.

"That is disturbing. I can think of a lot of frightening possibilities. Not sure I want to know on that one," Mercy calmly told him.

"He has a plan that somehow involves me, but he won't tell me what it is. I need to know," Lex added with a nod.

"Looks like I got a lot of snooping to do. Got to earn that cold hard cash," Mercy rubbed her hands together.

"One more question, will I need to be concerned about that little recording you made?" Lex asked.

"Only if you betray me." Mercy looked him in the eye as she calmly told him. She grinned, "But you wouldn't do that, now would you? Please keep your mouth shut to the reporters. For me to be able to spy, Milton needs to believe I was successful at keeping you quite," Mercy requested.

"Of course, I understand," Lex agreed.

"It is a pleasure doing business with you." Mercy smiled and looked him over one more time before walking out.

* * *

I just wanted to say thank you to the second person who put my story on favorites. That was really unexpected. About 5 people added this story to follows since I last updated. Thanks to all of you. I hope all of you continue to enjoy the story. Please let me know what you think.

If I got Mercy wrong in this chapter, sorry. She is a character I am not that familiar with. I figure that is covered because I also made it clear it wasn't really her anyway.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Did Lex catch on quick enough that Mercy was a fake? Any early guesses to the identity of the imposter?


	7. Ingorance is Bliss

**Wayne Manor**

Lois had not had a good night sleep since Clark's death. Tonight was no exception. She fell asleep on the bed watching television. As for getting a good night sleep, not a chance.

Lois stood at the top of the Wayne enterprise building standing across from Bruce. "Lex had one thing right, the fastest way to get Superman's attention is a pretty little reporter," Bruce said as he shoved her off the building. Lois screamed as she fell, not being so sure she would be rescued this time. True to form, Superman caught her well before she would have impacted the pavement below returning her safely to the ground.

"We really have to stop meeting like this." Lois joked as she tried to kiss him, but Superman pulled back and crossed his arms.

"How could you be so stupid? Bruce is no different than Lex." Superman glared at her.

"How can you be so cold." Lois's eyes welled up with tears.

"He is just using you to get to me. He doesn't really care about you." Superman touched her on the shoulder. This time Lois pulled away.

"I have my doubts about Bruce, but he is trying to help me." Lois looked him in the eye.

"Is that so? See what happens when you try to leave. You are not a guest in his home. You are a prisoner," Superman explained to Lois. Superman grabbed each of her arms and shook her a little bit. She started to wake up and realized it was Alfred grabbing her.

"I heard you scream. Are you alright?" Alfred asked her. Bruce stepped in the door too.

"I am fine now. Just having a very bad dream," Lois exclaimed. "Didn't mean to wake either of you." She knew of course it was a dream. She knew Clark would never really be that cruel to her. He wouldn't even like her being this cruel to herself as she had been mentally beating herself up all week long.

"That is fine. I wasn't sleeping anyway. You are not the only one to have nightmares in this house," Bruce told her.

"It isn't the house! I have been having them all week," Lois assured him. "Makes you want to just hook up a caffeine I. V. and not sleep at all." Lois tried to make light of everything. She forced a smile.

Bruce laughed. "Yeah, I know the feeling. What were you dreaming about?" Alfred asked.

"It doesn't matter. It was just a dream." Lois crossed her arms and looked out the window at the near full moon reflecting of the swimming pool down below.

"You were dreaming about him, weren't you?" Bruce quietly stepped up behind her.

"Who?" Lois's eyes open wide as she noticed Bruce approaching from the reflection in the sliding glass doors. She definitely didn't want to let Bruce know how much she distrusted him.

"Santa Claus!" Bruce shook his head. "Your fiancé of course, who else would I mean?"

"Clark, yes." Lois turned around and realized Bruce was much closer to her then she felt comfortable with. She took a step back. "I wouldn't call him fiancé yet. He hasn't asked and I haven't accepted yet."

"Like there is any chance you would say no," Bruce laughed, as he took a step back away from her respecting Lois's space. "You probably never took that ring off since you got it."

Lois unintentionally nodded realizing he was right about that. "If he came in and proposed right now, I would want to take the next flight to Las Vegas and get married as quickly as possible. Elope. That is after of course..." Lois closed her eyes as he cheeks turned slightly pinkish, "reminding him who his girlfriend is."

"Madam, if he asked you to marry him, I think he would know," Alfred politely interjected. Bruce smirked as he got the private joke between him and Lois.

"Right!" Lois grinned trying very hard to maintain a straight face and not laugh. Her cheeks turned brighter pink. "But I am not so sure that would be the right thing to do."

"Of course, it wouldn't be the right thing. Excluding your friends and family from one of the most important days of your life," Bruce mock scolded her.

"That isn't what I meant." Lois rolled her eyes at him.

"I know what you meant," Bruce told her sternly. "Why Las Vegas? Why not get married in Metropolis?"

"For one thing, Metropolis still requires a blood test. Clark won't be doing that." Lois shook her head.

* * *

 **Las Vegas**

"Looks like you are still the fastest." Clark declared as he arrived about two seconds after Barry. Clark looked around quickly taking in all the sights of tall buildings, bright flashing lights and brilliant landscaping. "Good, I don't think we were followed," he sighed with relief.

"Don't worry about the bat. He probably wasn't after you. He only goes after criminals anyway. Like you said, more than likely, it is just a case of mistaken identity," Barry assured him.

"You think I should try and clear things up with him." Clark darted his eyes at him and looked at him quizzically.

"Oh, no! There is no reasoning with him. He pretty much acts as judge, jury and executioner! If he comes near you again, just get away from him as fast as you can. He can't follow you," Barry assured him.

"You did," Clark pointed out.

"Yeah, but I am the fastest guy on the planet!" Barry smiled. "You, my friend, are a very close second. However, for now, do not worry! Just live in the moment. What would you like to do first?"

"I really don't remember why I wanted to come here." Clark frowned a bit as he looked around to see what would catch his eye. He noticed a large white castle with elegant towers and, a drawbridge and plenty of tall towers and colorful flags.

"Las Vegas is well known as the city of sin. Let me guess, you came here for the legalized prostitution," Barry joked. He tried to keep a straight face, but simply burst out laughing.

"I don't think so." Clark shook his head as he found Barry's laughter contagious as he laughed too.

"I was just hoping I could make you laugh. Definitely not my thing either. Iris would have my head," Barry continued to laugh.

"Who?" Clark asked.

"My best friend and the woman I love." Barry pulled out his cell phone and showed off a picture of an attractive brunette.

"Nice, you certainly are a lucky man." Clark raised a brow as he checked out the picture. "She slightly reminds me of a young lady I met last night."

"She couldn't have been as beautiful as my Iris." Barry grinned.

"Prettier." Clark grinned.

"Impossible!" Barry laughed.

"So, what is that?" Clark pointed at the castle.

"That is a casino, with a rather cool medieval motif." Barry took a few steps toward it. "Come on!" Clark followed Barry over a drawbridge and through a grand archway. "Welcome to Camelot!" Barry declared.

Clark flinched at the sight of a gargoyle about the archway. "It is just a statue. Slight bit of animatronics there. It sometimes flaps its wings. Very cool actually. It beautifully hides the security cameras," Barry informed Clark.

"Oh! Yeah, I see the camera!" Clark focused on it with his x-ray vision. Barry laughed, as he did not think that was possible.

As they passed through a major hallway, both sides of the casino were lined with blinking lit up machines, featuring high dollar amounts won today. Many machines had people around actively pushing buttons and pulling levers. Some exclaimed excitement over wins. Others pouted over losses. Barry seemed to know exactly where he was going as he ignored all the blinking machines and lead Clark straight to the table games. Clark noticed several more of those gargoyles throughout the building. He could see all the cameras. He could not help wondering why he wanted to come here even more. He hated being on camera and that feeling of being watched.

"Ever played Black Jack before?" Barry asked, to which Clark just shrugged. "Let's win some money; it will be fun."

"Ok, why not." Clark shrugged again.

Barry scouted for a perfect table. His perfect table would have low limits, a friendly dealer and at least two seats available for him and his friend. Barry preferred to have the last seat so he could see what everyone else's cards were before making his decision on how to play his cards. He was a skilled card counter and he wanted advantages the better guessing of which cards were still in the deck. So far, most tables were full or the limits were excessively high. Clark watched a few rounds of play. He managed to see examples of all the various plays. He asked Barry a few questions about specific plays and Clark caught on fast to the game.

Barry noticed a new table about to be opened. The limits were ten-dollar minimum, one thousand- dollar maximum, dealer stands on all 17s, surrender allowed doubling down after split allowed, no resplitting of aces. "Why do we want to play at the same table? Wouldn't we just be competing against each other?" Clark asked.

"No, it only matters if you beat the dealer or not. One of the reasons I love this game. The other players are usually so friendly with each other," Barry told Clark.

"James!" Barry read the dealer's nametag. "Thank you so much for opening up another table."

"When I hear James, I am looking around for my father. Please, call me Jimmy." Jimmy shuffled about six decks of cards together. Even though all the cards were face down, Clark looked at the cards and realized he knew what all of them were as he could see right through them. Finally feeling satisfied the cards were shuffled adequately, Jimmy clapped his hands together and said, "Are you two ready to make some money?" Jimmy grinned. "Please sit down."

"I think we got the right table, I like this dealer already," Barry declared as he took the last seat. Clark nodded in agreement, as he took the seat right next to him. Barry put down three hundred dollars on the table all in twenty dollar bills. The dealer picked up the bills spread them out for the cameras to see exactly how much was there. Then he slipped the money through slot next to him and gave Barry a few green chips and red chips with total value of $300 dollars.

Clark reached into his pockets and realized he didn't have any money. "Looks like I will just have to watch you play. I don't have any cash on me,"

Barry took out another one hundred and fifty dollars. "Here! Pay me back when you can," Barry told him.

"Are you sure? You don't have to do that," Clark told him, as he did not want to accept the money.

"I am sure," Barry assured him.

A young Asian couple joined the table. They both laughed as they were sitting down. "What is so funny?" Barry asked.

"If you could choose between you getting all of Lex Luthor's money or world peace, what color would the Lamborghini be?" the guy asked Barry.

Barry laughed. "Red, it is my favorite color," Barry answered.

"Let's not gloss over this world peace thing." Clark spoke up. That Asian couple both laughed at that.

"What are you? A saint? Hi, I am David and this is my fiancée Jasmine." David shook Clark's hand.

"Fiancée, when is the big day?" Barry asked.

"Not soon enough." Jasmine lovingly looked at her man. "Tomorrow."

The table quickly filled up with other players. Barry was right. The other players were very helpful. Jasmine had a basic strategy cheat sheet on her that she let Clark look at before deciding his plays. As the game went on, Clark realized he could do better. He found his ability to read the dealer's hold card and the cards in the shoot greatly improved his odds of winning. He even advised other players on how to play their cards. At first, other players were skeptical, but the game went on, they found taking Clark's advice always paid off, either increase winnings or decrease losses with odd uses of doubling down and surrender. By the time they finished the card shoe, Clark had already over doubled his money.

"Money back with interest." Clark handed over two hundred dollars' worth of chips to Barry and Clark still had about 150 to play with.

"Great, I am a loan shark now," Barry joked and the other players at the table laughed. Barry handed him back the 50. "No interest needed."

Clark finally pushed the envelope a bit too far. He was given a 9 and a 10. His hand totaled a 19. The dealer's up card was a 9. Clark knew the next card in the deck was a two of spades. Clark did the unthinkable and chose to double down. "Are you nuts?" Barry told him. Clark had a pretty high bet on the table. "Unless the next card is a two or an ace, you are going to bust! Eighty five percent chance! Don't do it!"

"Are you really sure you want to be doing that?" Jimmy tried to talk him out of it.

"Positive!" Clark nodded with a smile. The dealer put down that two of spades sideways across Clark's 9 and 10.

"Yeah! Awesome!" Barry high fived Clark and clapped. The rest of the players looked on with dropped jaws. Jimmy put his hands together as if for a prayer and bowed. That freaked Clark out a bit.

"Please don't do that." Clark covered his face with his hands. Another vivid image entered his head as hundreds of people wearing weird white makeup all reaching out to him like he was some kind of deity.

"Relax, it is just a joke." Barry looked to Clark and laughed. Once the dealer's cards were revealed, the dealer had twenty, as the dealer's hold card was an ace. Barry realized Clark would have lost if he had stood, which would have been the correct play. Instead, he received a payout of double his original bet.

Barry's smile tensed up and disappeared as the pit boss approached their table. "How about we go check out that buffet?" Barry suggested with a forced smile. He knew casino heat begins with the pit boss watching your game.

"Good idea, quit when we are ahead." and then he looked back to Jimmy. "You were awesome," Clark told Jimmy. He gave him a twenty-five dollar chip as a tip just before leaving. Clark did not realize that his ability to see the cards in the shoot and the dealer's hold card was cheating. If he had, he would not have played at all. However, for now, ignorance was bliss.

Barry led Clark to a much quieter area of the casino. "Awesome play on that last hand there." Barry grinned, then frowned, "but try not to make such an extreme move like that again. You will end up banned from the casino if you keep playing like that."

"Honestly, I don't think I am that much of a gambler. But I got to admit, that was fun." Clark smiled.

"Too bad, you are amazing at it." Barry smiled.

Barry's cell phone suddenly began to play 'I will love you for a thousand years,' by Christina Perri. Barry did not even need to check the screen for who was calling. The ring tone gave it away. "That is Iris. This could take a while. You don't have to wait for me." Barry smiled as he answered the phone.

"Ok, I will give you some privacy. I will try and catch you again later." Clark began to walk away. He was not trying to listen but he heard every word as Barry told Iris all about his new friend Kal. He could even hear every word Iris said too even after he put a significant distance between himself and Barry. Clark began to wonder about his own love life and decided he would try to track down that beautiful girl he met the night before back in Smallville.

* * *

 **Smallville**

Clark returned to the graveyard where he had met the pretty brunette the night before. Despite it already being a bit past dark, Clark found he could see well. The moon was unusually bright tonight. Clark looked down and began reading some of the names on the tombstones. He hoped at the very least, some of them would stir up some old memories. Most did not, until he got to one that read Jonathan Kent. He watched a man in the distance with a twister headed straight for him. Although he felt compelled to run toward the danger, the man put his hand up indicating he should stop. He did. "No!" Clark called out as the twister engulfed him.

Lana, who was crouched down over her parent's grave, was startled when she realized she wasn't alone in the grave yard. "Who is there?" Her hands shook as she called out. Clark raced towards her.

Lana breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. Clark smiled back at her. "Clark!" Lana called out. "I was hoping I would see you again." She walked toward him.

"Clark?" Clark frowned as he repeated what she said. "I thought my name was Kal." He remembered what Barry said about Batman only going after criminals. At first Clark thought, he was mistaken for someone else but now he couldn't help wondering if he actually was a criminal.

"Not unless you changed it," Lana laughed.

"Mind if I ask you something?" Clark looked her in the eyes.

"You can ask me anything. " Lana checked her pockets.

"What are you looking for?" Clark asked.

"My cell phone." Lana frowned. "I think I left it at home. Your friend Mr. Wayne is looking for you. I promised him I would give him a call if I heard from you and I might have a date with him too."

"He is such a lucky guy," Clark scoffed and looked at the ground.

"No, I am the lucky one. He can probably help you find your girlfriend too." Lana looked Clark over.

"I have a girl friend?" Clark looked up. "I have to find her before she forgets all about me."

"I never met her." Lana thought for a moment trying to remember her name. "I know he said her name, but I don't remember. Your mother would know. She doesn't live far from here. Come with me." Lana extended her hand. Clark took hold of her hand and they began to leave the graveyard together. "Now, what did you want to ask me?"

"It is not important." Clark changed his mind about asking her.

"No, just ask me," Lana insisted with a smile.

"What is a nice girl you like you doing in a grave yard in the middle of the night?" Clark smiled at her knowing that was not his real question.

"My parents are buried here." Lana frowned.

"Oh, I didn't know." Clark stopped smiling.

"I could ask you the same question. What is a nice guy like you doing in a grave yard in the middle of the night?" She smiled showing her pearly whites, being just as playful about it as Clark was.

"What makes you so sure I am a nice guy?" Clark asked. He tried to sound playful and joking like his new friend Barry did, yet he was actually hoping for a solid answer to dispel his concerns that he might actually be a criminal.

"I don't really. The Clark Kent I knew in high school wouldn't hurt a fly. But barring last night, I haven't seen you since graduation. People do change. You were always one of the quiet ones and you know what they say about the quiet ones… There the ones you have to watch out for!" Lana teased.

"Great! Not the answer I was hoping for," Clark sighed, shoulders slumped down as he looked to the ground.

"I am just teasing. Please you were an angel." Lana shook her head and briefly closed her eyes. "Memory or no memory, you haven't changed a bit. You still didn't answer my question. What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to find you actually." Clark bit his lip.

"I am glad you did." Lana smiled warmly. "So where did you and what's her name run off to last night?"

"She took me to Central City. Supposedly she was going to introduce me to someone who could help me get my memory back fast, but we got separated, so that didn't happen." Clark looked up at the stars hoping she would not ask too many more questions about that as looking back on it, he realized his actions were very cowardly. Clark imaged holding some type of weapon that exploded in his hand as he choked on some kind of green dust. Batman told him, 'That is fear. You are not brave.' As the image stopped, Clark looked around to make sure the two of them were alone.

"Didn't go well, don't ask. But then I met this awesome guy Barry. We became fast friends. We ended up in Las Vegas," Clark smiled as he told her all this.

"Did you do any gambling?" Lana asked.

"Yeah, played some Black Jack. It was really fun. Met this nice couple who are getting married tomorrow. The dealer was so cool too." Clark told her.

"Most people would be bragging about how much they won or pouting about how much they lost. You? You care more about the people then the money. I knew it! You are still a nice guy." Lana laughed.

"Thank you." Clark looked at her trying to remember her name. "I feel like I should know your name, but I can't remember."

"Lana," Lana told him. "Just out of curiosity, how did you do at blackjack?"

"Made about a thousand dollars." Clark shrugged that one off.

"Wow!" Lana's jaw dropped.

"Yeah, it is such an easy game. Everybody at our table was winning." Clark smiled.

"Wish I had been at your table." Lana laughed and nodded with a smile.

Clark fished through his pockets and realized he still had chips from the casino. "Oh, I didn't cash all my chips yet." He showed one of the chips to Lana. Lana looked at it. It was a black chip with $100, marked Camelot.

"We are here." Lana led Clark to the porch of his mother's house. Lana was about to ring the doorbell.

As Clark scanned the house, he realized his mother was sleeping on the downstairs sofa. He blocked her hand from ringing the bell. "It is late and she is sleeping. I do not want to bother her."

"What? She is your mother. She will want to see you." Lana tried to persuade him.

"She will tomorrow, I promise, please just let her sleep," Clark insisted.

"Ok," Lana walked down the stairs of the porch. She looked back at Clark who was still standing on the porch. "Coming?"

Clark smiled and followed her. Clark walked her back to her home, which was only about three houses down from the Kent Farm.

"Do you want to come in?" Lana took out her keys and turned the lock. She turned around and realized Clark was already gone. She rushed inside and grabbed her cell phone off the charger.

* * *

A/N

Thank you to the people who have put this story on favorites and follows. Again, I would like to thank you La Vik for the review. I appreciate it more than you know. My previous two chapters were added because of reviews. So, I must say, thanks.

There is a real hotel in Las Vegas called Excalibur. I modeled my Camelot after that, but with some made up details. I did quite a bit of testing to see if the x-ray vision would really be the advantage I think it would be in the game, and it definitely would. Interestingly, surrender proved to be an important option, which Excalibur does not allow.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Does Lois really have anything to worry about with Lana stealing Clark from her? The blackjack is something I would do if I suddenly got all of Superman's powers. What would you do with it if you got his powers?


	8. The Cat Steals the heart of the Bat

**Wayne Manor**

Bruce, Lois and Alfred were still in the guest room at Wayne manor when Bruce's phone rang. He glanced at the name on the caller id and answered it. "Hello beautiful," Bruce answered the phone.

"Who is that? Diana?" Lois guessed.

"No, it is Lana," Bruce told Lois, then he got back to his phone call. Lois looked at the ring on her finger and sighed.

"That is alright. Not like I was sleeping anyway. Besides, I told you that you could call any time," Bruce responded to something Lana had said.

"Really, that is great. I am with his girlfriend right now," Bruce told Lana. Then he turned to Lois as he switched his phone to speaker mode. "You will want to hear this too."

"Ok, like I was telling Bruce, I was out for a walk tonight. Mrs. Kent was right! Clark did come back looking for me," Lana said.

"Yes, of course he did." Lois rolled her eyes.

"What do you mean?" Lana asked.

"Nothing, I just knew he would. Is Clark with you now?" Lois responded trying to remain calm.

"No, he left already. I would have called sooner, but I left my cell phone at home. Anyway, Bruce, it gave me the perfect excuse to call you," Lana told Bruce playfully.

"You don't need an excuse to call me," Bruce laughed.

"Clark has told me quite a bit about you. It is nice to meet you, even if it is just over the phone." Lois smiled as she spoke. She was relieved to realize Lana was interested in Bruce, not Clark.

"If you don't mind me saying, you are a lucky lady. Clark is out of this world!" Lana told her. Bruce smirked and shook his head at that.

Lois's eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped as she wondered if Lana knew more then she was telling. "So where did you see Clark and what did the two of you talk about?" Bruce interrupted before an awkward moment could be contemplated too long.

"Not too much really, I took him over to his mother's house. He claimed she was sleeping on the downstairs sofa, so he insisted on letting her sleep, but he did promise to come back tomorrow to see her. I don't know how he would know that just by looking at the house," Lana explained.

"He was probably just being considerate and thought it too late to bother anybody," Lois knew full well he probably used his ex-ray vision and knew, but she thought it better to offer a plausible alternative.

"Yeah, that sounds like Clark. Still, even if she was sleeping, I think Mrs. Kent would have preferred we wake her up, if she had a choice," Lana told her.

"True," Lois and Bruce said at the same time.

"You should have woken her up," Lois commented.

"Clark didn't want me to," Lana responded.

"Are you afraid of him?" Bruce asked.

"Afraid of Clark? Please, he wouldn't hurt a fly," Lana laughed that one off. Bruce vividly remembered Superman slamming him into a wall. Bruce would have been even more surprised if he could read Lois's mind right now as she remembered Superman snapping General Zod's neck. Lois just let out a nervous laugh. Bruce looked at her strangely darting his eyes in her direction.

"Thank you. I would like to go to Smallville tomorrow," Lois smiled with a nod.

"Any idea where he might have gone tonight," Bruce asked.

"Yeah, Camelot," Lana answered.

"What," Bruce and Lois questioned as a fantasy fictional place was the last answer anybody expected.

"It is a casino in Las Vegas," Lana laughed.

"Oh, yeah, I know where that is." Bruce smirked as he looked at Lois. "Funny, somebody else recently mentioned something about going to Vegas."

"What was he doing in Las Vegas," Lois asked.

"Apparently made several new friends and won money playing blackjack," Lana told them.

"Interesting. Alfred, get my jet ready. Looks like I am going to Las Vegas tonight," Bruce smiled.

"Wish I could go with you," Lana said exactly what Lois was thinking.

"Not this time. Maybe next time," Bruce told Lana.

"I couldn't anyway. I have to work tomorrow. Are we still on for dinner?" Lana asked hopefully.

"Absolutely! I will try and see you tomorrow," Bruce grinned.

"Looking forward to it," Lana smiled.

"You and me both," Bruce smiled. "Good night!" Lana and Bruce ended the phone call. Bruce headed for the door.

"Wait," Lois called to him.

Bruce turned around and put his hand on his hip. He looked at her with a knowing smirk. "Are you coming with me?"

"If you insist." Lois smiled as that was exactly what she was going to ask. "Can I just have a few minutes to get changed?"

Bruce nodded. "Just hurry up." Bruce made it clear he didn't want to be kept waiting.

She ran into the closet and shut the door. This closet was bigger than her bedroom at home. It even had a vanity. Lois rushed to get ready. Right now she wished she had brought more clothes than she did. In her mind, she felt like she was still competing with Lana and she wanted to dress a bit sexier than usual, but she didn't pack for that. She rushed to brush her hair, and change her clothes. She grabbed her purse before rushing out.

* * *

 **Las Vegas**

It took them a little over an hour to get to LasVegas. Lois knew if Lana was right about where Clark went, he probably already got there before they finished that phone call. They went straight for Camelot. Bruce suggested they split up, as he did not want the paparazzi taking their picture together and making Lois out to be his latest conquest. That would definitely send the wrong message to Clark if he saw that.

Lois accidently bumped into Barry as he was on his way out of the men's room. "Excuse me," she told Barry. She showed him a picture of Clark from her wallet. "Have you seen this guy?" she asked.

Barry looked at the picture. Then he looked at her. "No, can't say that I have," Barry then rushed back to the blackjack table and rejoined Clark.

At first Bruce headed for the high limits games area he would normally go for, but then realized no way Clark would do that. He went to the other side of the casino where the games kept the limits much lower. He caught a glimpse of Barry racing by him as he took a seat next to Clark at one of the blackjack tables. Bruce got closer.

The dealer had an Ace as his up card on the current hand. "Insurance bets are open," the dealer called out. Bruce knew plenty about this game. He knew the insurance bet is generally discouraged as a suckers bet among those who know the game. Clark looked at the dealer's hold card which was facing upside down.

"Yes," Clark called out as he pushed a stack of chips equal to about half the size of his current bet.

"You don't want to do that," Bruce shook his head at that.

Clark ignored him. To Bruce's shock, all four of the other players at the table also went in on the insurance bet too.

"I have never had that many takers on the insurance bet," The dealer said. He ran the hold card through a scanner. He flipped the card. "Of course." All players broke even that round thanks to winning the insurance bet.

"There was this lady asking about you." Barry turned to Clark. "She had a picture of you in her wallet."

"Really? What did she look like?" Clark started looking around the room and through the walls.

"Strawberry blond, long hair, attractive, dressed like a professional, slacks, nice blouse, blazer," Barry began.

Lois wasn't even in the room. Clark was viewing her through walls. He examined some of the pictures in her wallet. Some of them showed the two of them together looking very cozy. In one of them, they were even kissing. "I think I found her," Clark said.

Barry looked around the room. "I don't see her."

"Her name is Lois Lane," Clark said.

"So you do know her?" Barry questioned.

"No, I am just reading her name off her driver's license," Clark answered. Barry and the other players chuckled at his remark assuming this was a sarcastic joke. "Oh, I am pretty sure she knows me. I am going to try and talk to her," Clark handed a twenty-five dollar chip to the dealer. "That is for you. You have been awesome. Thank you."

The other players at the table all groaned. "Do you have to go," Jack, another player at the table asked.

"Should I try and save your seat? Are you coming back?" Barry asked as Clark pocketed his betting chips.

"Depends on how well it goes with the lady," Clark answered. Clark briefly made eye contact with Bruce as he left the area. Bruce was relieved by Clark's lack of reaction to him given that when Clark saw Batman, he ran like hell.

Bruce was going to follow Clark, but then he took a closer look at the guy who offered to save his seat and realized this was most likely the one he hoped to find in Central City. He recognized him from Lex's videos.

"I don't think he is coming back. He will be very lucky with that lady," Bruce declared as he took Clark's seat. The other players at the table snickered to Bruce's comment which to them at least came across sounding much dirtier than was intended.

"I am reading his driver's license! That is Bruce Wayne," Jack declared. Most of the other players at the table laughed.

Barry looked on stunned as he realized who just sat next to him. "Oh, my, Mr. Wayne, it is an honor to meet you sir. " Barry smiled.

"Likewise, call me Bruce." Bruce responded as they shook hands. Bruce put five thousand dollars on the table. The dealer gave him equivalent betting chips. "And you are?"

"Barry Allen! Do you actually know my buddy there?" Barry pointed in Clark's direction.

"Yes, I do know him. He is a friend of mine," Bruce told him.

"He is awesome," Barry said. The other players at the table all nodded in agreement.

Clark made his way toward Lois. He kept her in focus with his x-ray vision and made his way around the various walls. He saw her just as she was stepping into an elevator. He rushed to catch that one as the doors were closing, he forced them to reopen a bit and easily made his way in. As luck would have it, they were the only two people in the elevator. "Lois, is it? A friend of mine said you were looking for me." Clark caught her attention.

Lois looked up. "You remember my name?" Lois smiled.

"No, I just read it off your driver's license," Clark told her.

"Oh," Lois sighed with an almost disappointed reaction. Unlike those at the table, Lois knew all about Clark's x-ray vision.

"So what did you want," Clark asked.

"You," Lois grabbed his shirt and pulled him in close. She tilted her head slightly to the side and leaned in close for a kiss as she closed her eyes and hoped this would help bring back a memory for Clark.

"You know, they say it is downhill after the first kiss?" Clark echoed what Lois had said after their real first kiss.

Lois smiled at the realization that Clark definitely remembered their first kiss. Both leaned into each other wrapped their arms around each other's bodies. Both were breathing heavy, hearts racing as they kissed again longer and hotter than the previous one. Neither noticed when the door from the elevator opened again.

Another much older lady joined them in the elevator. "You two are going to stay vertical right," she asked. Both still had a tight grip on each other as they turned to look at the lady. They both laughed feeling a little embarrassed. "Get a room."

Clark escorted Lois back to the blackjack table to say good night to Barry and to introduce him to Lois. When they got there, it was Bruce's turn to decide what to do with his hand. Bruce had one of the worst hands possible in Black Jack, a 9 and a 7 for a total of 16. The Dealer's up card was a Jack. Bruce knew blackjack basic strategy very well and knew the correct play would be to surrender. But on principle he did not believe in this move. Bruce hesitated. "What is it going to be?" The dealer asked Bruce.

"I found her," Clark told Barry. Lois was hanging all over Clark

Bruce was slightly distracted by Lois and Clark. The dealer repeated his question. "What do you want to do? Hit? Stand? Surrender?" the dealer asked.

Clark looked at Bruce's hand and then looked at the card shoot. "Double down. You can't lose," Clark told Bruce. Clark could see the next card in the shoot was a five, which would give Bruce twenty-one, a perfect hand.

"Seriously?" Barry questioned. Clark nodded. "Yeah, do it! If he..." Barry causally pointed to Clark, "thinks you should double down, I can guarantee you the next card is a four or a five!" Clark casually held up all five his hand pointing all four fingers and his thumb up.

Bruce rolled his eyes. "Are you nuts? If I hit, I have about a sixty percent chance of busting. No way am I doubling my bet. Hit." Bruce tapped his hand on the table.

The dealer served him the next card a five of diamonds. "You have 21," the dealer declared.

"Yeah, awesome! Too bad you didn't double your bet, but who cares? You are still going to win!" Barry told him. Sure enough Bruce beat the dealer's hand and won that round. "It is awesome meeting you Mr. Wayne. But I think I better get home before Iris files for divorce,' Barry said.

"Before you go, I would like some contact information from you. For a possible job opportunity," Bruce requested.

"Hell, yes!" Barry pulled a small pen and paper from his pocket and jotted down his name, address and phone number for Bruce. Bruce promptly added Barry to his list of contacts on his phone and then destroyed the paper written contact information. Barry wrote it out again and gave it to Clark. "I would like your contact information too."

"Do you happen to know my address?" Clark asked Lois.

"Yes, we have been living together for over a year," Lois told Clark with a nod.

Clark wrote down the address from Lois's driver's license and handed it to Barry.

"When we first got here, I rented us a couple of rooms," Bruce told Lois as he passed her a room key. "My room is across the hall from yours."

"Thank you," Lois looked on stunned as she didn't expect Bruce to be that considerate. She looked at Clark and smiled. "Come with me please." Lois and Clark left together.

"Both of you have a great night," Bruce told them.

An older, yet still very attractive lady took the now empty seat that Barry had just left. She tapped Bruce on the shoulder as he watched Lois and Clark leave. Bruce looked at her. "Selina?" Bruce grinned. Maybe Clark won't be the only one getting lucky tonight he thought to himself.

"It has been a long time." Selina returned Bruce's smile. Selina caught out of the corner of her eye a gentleman with a camera pointed in their direction. She sat on the edge of his lap, leaned in and kissed him. Bruce kissed her back. Bruce's eyes opened wide as to Selina's choice of where to put her hand.

"It is good to see you again." Selina backed off just a tiny bit. "It has been a long time."

"Too long!" Bruce grinned at Selina as he checked to make sure he still had his wallet on him.

"Can we go somewhere more private where we can talk?" Selina requested pleading in her eyes as she tilted her head to the side.

"I was just thinking the same thing." Bruce gave her a coy look. Bruce picked up his betting chips.

"I know exactly what you were thinking." Selina almost purred, partly closing her eyes and smiling warmly. Bruce escorted Selina back to his hotel room. Bruce doubted she really did just want to talk. He ordered champagne and chocolate covered strawberries to be sent to the room. Room service was quick.

They enjoyed the champagne, strawberries and most of all each other. "You have been working out," Selina commented as she slid off Bruce's shirt and dropped it to the floor. She admired his physique as she gently caressed his chest. She leaned in and kissed him.

Bruce unbuttoned her blouse and slid it off her arms making sure to caress them as he did that. He took a few moments to savor the view of her in her black satin bra. Selina closed her eyes. She knew she was no longer the young hot thing she was the first time she and Bruce were together. She was relieved to realize Bruce didn't seem to notice as he went back to kissing her. He reached around to undo her bra.

Selina promptly undid his belt and dropped his pants to the floor. Bruce tried to step out of his pants and fell back on the bed. He already had a good grip on Selina, so he pulled her down with him. The both smiled and laughed.

Lois and Clark caught a Vegas style show before finally turning in for the night. Lois took one look at the room. She was impressed. "We got to thank him," Lois said as she turned around and faced Bruce's door.

"Oh my god! Lois don't." Clark pulled Lois back into their room. "He is…"

"Sleeping?" Lois questioned.

"You could call it that." Clark's face went pinkish as he tried not to laugh. He picked up the 'do not disturb' sign from their room and put it on Bruce's door knob.

"He has a girl in there?" Lois questioned.

"Oh, yeah, he does. I wouldn't' knock on his door." Clark nodded. "I would like to grab a few things from home, if that is alright," Clark requested. Lois fished out the key to their apartment from her purse and placed it on the table.

She pulled out her cell phone and loaded the GPS program to show him how to get to their place. "Here, this should tell you exactly where to go."

Clark read over the directions. "Ok, got it. You don't mind if I use the shower do you," Clark asked. "Would like to feel a little more human again."

"You want me to join you in there," Lois offered.

"No, that won't be necessary. I still feel like we just met," Clark winced closing his eyes as he shook his head side to side.

"I understand," Lois kissed him on the cheek. Clark hugged her securely and kissed her passionately before heading for the shower.

Lois looked at the bathroom door wishing she had that x-ray vision power too, so she could enjoy the view. She stripped down to her lacy bra and panties and collapsed on the bed above the covers. Right now, she wanted to be with him much more then she wanted to sleep, but she was way over tired. The shine of the keys she had sitting on the table caught her eye. She remembered that she never erased that message from Lex on her answering machine. She didn't want Clark to hear that message. By the time Clark emerged from the bathroom, Lois had already fallen asleep. Clark looked over Lois's mostly naked body. He moved in fairly close and realized she was definitely sleeping. He admired the view, then grabbed the keys and headed for home. To his relief, he had very little trouble finding it.

Bruce and Selina snuggled together under the covers basking in the afterglow of what they just did. "The cat still manages to steal the heart of the bat," Bruce smiled as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"Do you remember our first time, the night in the back of the limo," Selina dangerously looked him in the eye.

"You seduced me, tied me up and made your get away so I failed to have you arrested," He remembered the two of them in the back of that limo, ripping each other's clothes off with the eagerness of children opening their presents Christmas morning. He even remembered that lacy black bra and matching thong she was wearing. The imminent threat of his partner Robin barging in on them only heightened his excitement as he made love to her that night. "Vaguely!" Bruce smirked.

"Well, sometimes seduction has consequences," Selina told him. Bruce caressed her shoulder. "I knew you weren't father material and I am definitely not mother material, so I put her up for adoption so she could have a normal life."

"What? When our paths crossed again a few years later, you didn't tell me this because… Why?" Bruce exclaimed as he sat up pulling the covers up over him.

"She was so far out of mind. I almost forgot all about her, but then she contacted me recently by mail. On her birth certificate, it just says father 'unknown.' When I meet with her, do you want me to tell her who her father is, or just keep with the same B.S. story I told the hospital that it was really wild times for me and the father could be almost anyone?" Selina asked. Bruce stared at her with his eyes wide open, his mouth slightly open ready give her a verbal assault, yet he found himself at a loss for words.

"Do you want to know about this or do you want me to shut up and go away?" Selina sat up too.

"Who is she?" Bruce asked.

"You may have heard of her. Her name is Helena. She was adopted by Lionel Luthor," Selina began.

"Helena Luthor? The Olympic hopeful?" Bruce asked.

"That is the one." Selina smiled with pride holding up her index finger.

"Lionel Luthor? Is he related to Lex Luthor?" Bruce asked.

"His Uncle," Selina nodded.

"Great!" Bruce huffed as he forced a smile.

* * *

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. In the movie, Alfred indicated that there wasn't likely to be a next generation of Waynes, so for the purpose of my story, I figured any kids Bruce had, even Bruce wouldn't know about them. That is one of the main reasons I made Helena pure AU. I had her adopted into the Luthor family because I see plenty of dramatic potential for that. What do you think of her being adopted into the Luthor family?


	9. Twist the truth

**Metropolis**

Clark tripped the silent alarm as he entered his home. Diana noticed the ping from the computer. She called up the visual for Lois and Clark's apartment. She picked up the phone and was about to call the police. She put the phone down when she realized it was Clark. As he grabbed a few changes of clothes, he heard a knock. Clark looked through the door. At first he chose not to answer.

"Come on Kal, open up. I know you are in there," Milton called out to Clark from the other side of the door.

Reluctantly, Clark opened the door. "What are you?" Clark asked as he looked at this man.

Diana looked on puzzled. 'Doesn't he mean who are you?' She wondered.

"Your place is bugged." Milton pointed out one of the cameras. "Can we talk at my place?"

"Sure." Clark x-rayed the entire place and realized he was right about the cameras and listening devices in every room. Clark locked the door before following Milton down the hallway.

"You should probably get rid of those cameras," Milton suggested to Clark.

"I will check with Lois first and find out why they are there," Clark responded.

"Lois, of course, your so called girlfriend." Milton stopped at his door.

"What do you mean?" Clark asked.

"You were barely gone a week and what does she do? She ran off with Bruce Wayne." Milton unlocked the door to his apartment.

"Are you sure about this?" Clark asked.

"Yes, Bruce Wayne is always trying to get a piece of tail. Check this out. Bruce Wayne and Dr. Meridian Chase," then he put another one on top of that. "There he is again with Selina Kyle. Oh and look what we have here another reporter. Victoria Vale. Need I go on?" As he had plenty more to show.

"I really don't think he is after Lois. He barely paid any attention to her. He even ran off with another woman." Clark looked him right in the eye.

"Oh that is a relief. I didn't give Lois enough credit. Clearly she had sense enough to say no," Milton conceded. "All the same, be careful of Bruce. He can't be trusted. He already tried to have you killed once. There is little doubt he will try again. He wants both you and Lex dead."

"Who is Lex?" Clark asked.

"He was your best friend, that is until you got him sent to prison for a crime you committed." Milton's tone remained very even with a flat matter of fact tone about him.

"What?" Clark looked on horrified.

"You murdered a man in cold blood. You went up behind him and snapped his neck in the subway and your best friend Lex took the fall for you. He could be facing the death penalty." As Milton's words came out, Clark experienced a vivid flashback of him coming up behind General Zod and snapping his neck as he watched him fall to the ground. "Obviously, he isn't your best friend anymore."

Clark looked down at the floor and put his hand to his forehead. "Oh my god, what have I done?" Clark shook his head and closed his eyes.

"I am sure Lex would forgive you if you broke him out of prison," Milton stated calmly.

* * *

 **Las Vegas**

Clark quickly returned to the hotel. He could hear Bruce on the phone with some other woman. "Don't worry about it. We already found him. Good night Diana," Clark heard Bruce say before hanging up.

"Can't you at least wait 'til I've left already before you start two-timing me?" Selina asked Bruce with a laugh and a big smile on her face.

"There is nothing going on between me and Diana. She is like a coworker to me now and definitely off limits." Bruce kissed her on the cheek. "Now that I had some time to think about it, tell me when and where you are meeting with Helena. I want to be there," Bruce told Selina. Selina nodded and wrote done the info for him. Clark wasn't tired at all, so he returned downstairs to the casino.

Early the next morning, Lois slowly began to wake up. She dreamed about being with Clark the entire night and woke up feeling almost as exhausted as she would be if she actually had been. To her disappointment, she realized she was alone. Nothing but a big pillow next to her. She slightly opened the shade to let in just a little bit of light. She decided to stick to her usual morning routine, which of course started with a hot shower.

Clark returned to the room while she was in the shower. "Hey," Clark said to her as she emerged from the bathroom. His head was down in the morning paper.

"Clark," Lois called out excitedly. "You came back, thank god!"

"Am I leading some kind of double life or something? You call me Clark, others call me…" Clark began.

"Yeah you are," Lois nodded as she looked right at him.

Then he looked up and realized she was wearing nothing but a pink shower wrap and matching fuzzy slippers. His jaw dropped slightly as he raised a brow. "Wow! I can't have a serious conversation with you dressed like that. I will wait for you in the hall way." He folded up his newspaper.

"No, you are not going anywhere," Lois raced over and pushed the newspapers out of his hands and on to the floor. She sat in his lap and put an arm around him.

"I thought this memory loss thing was a curse." Clark loosened his tie as he was feeling as turned on as he was uncomfortable at the realization that Lois wasn't wearing any underwear. "Turns out it was actually a blessing."

"What do you mean?" Lois pushed her hair back.

"I had a little chat with one of our neighbors and found out something I would rather not know," Clark told her.

"None of our neighbors actually know us that well, whatever they told you might not even be true. What did they tell you?" Lois asked.

"Several things really. Like that Bruce Wayne is trying to steal my girlfriend," Clark told her.

"This is just a case of a nosy neighbor seeing us leave together and jumping to some very wrong conclusions. I don't really know Bruce that well, but he hasn't hit on me once. Bruce Wayne does have that reputation as a womanizer, and from what we saw last night, it is well deserved. Yesterday, he was planning a date with Lana, then he comes here and almost immediately picks up another woman." Lois laughed. Lois didn't realize this wasn't a fair assessment as the woman he picked up wasn't a random stranger as she assumed, but the love of his life, a woman he already had a strong history with.

"Lana? Yeah, I forgot about her. She did say she had a date with him." Clark nodded.

"You forgot about her," Lois repeated what he said and the more she thought about that, the wider her smile got.

"I was thinking about you." Clark raised a brow and gently ran his fingers through her hair.

Lois leaned in and kissed him on the lips slowly and passionately as she began to unbutton his shirt. Clark kissed her back. Then they heard a knock on the door. "Oh not now," Lois muttered under her breath.

Clark looked through the door. "It is Bruce Wayne," Clark told her as Lois off his lap. Lois grabbed her clothes and rushed back into the bathroom to get dressed in private. Clark opened the door and stepped into the hallway closing the door behind him. "She isn't ready yet. She is still getting dressed."

"Oh," Bruce said. He couldn't help but notice Clark's clothing looked a bit disheveled. "Was I interrupting something?"

"No, not yet!" Clark smiled. Then he quickly followed it with a polite but less than honest reply. "I mean not at all." Bruce snickered at that.

Lois opened the door and stepped out into the hallway. "Good morning." Lois said to them both.

"I would like to take you both for breakfast," Bruce told them.

"Will your other guest be joining us too?" Clark asked.

"No, she already left. Wait! How did you even know about that?" Bruce asked.

"I have my sources," Clark gave a bit of a smirk. "We heard you."

"We? Speak for yourself, I didn't hear a thing," Lois laughed.

They went to the casino's all you can eat buffet. Bruce was a carrying member for the casino's VIP status card, so he and his two guests went right past the line. Several people in line took out their cell phones and took pictures of Bruce as they passed by. They were seated quickly.

"Glad it is a buffet. I don't remember what I like," Clark told Lois quietly.

"I know what you like," Lois assured him.

"I bet you do." Bruce smirked at Lois.

The buffet featured an extensive collection of breakfast food favorites including crispy bacon, sweet and spicy sausage, black forest ham, eggs prepared a multitude of ways, light and fluffy pancakes, crispy waffles, French toast, seasoned home fries, stuffed crepes filled with fruit or chocolate, yogurt, fresh fruit, cereals, bagels, croissants, toast and assorted pastries. She helped Clark pick his foods first.

Lois watched a chubby woman fill her plate with chocolate chip pancakes, then drizzle chocolate and caramel sauce all over them. If that wasn't enough, she smothered the whole plate with a generous topping of sweetened whip cream. Lois admitted to herself that looked really good, but she settled on the healthier choices of fruit and yogurt.

Bruce was done with his selections too. The three of them sat down at the table together.  
"I got to ask, what were you doing in Central City?" Bruce asked Clark.

"How did you know about that?" Clark looked around the room noting where the exits were.

"I have my sources." Bruce smirked, as he copied Clark's wise ass answer from earlier. He paused just long enough to make Clark feel a bit uncomfortable. Bruce realized if he mentioned Batman as his source, Clark would probably bolt and then Lois would be right, he would become impossible to find again. "Barry told me that is where he met you."

"Oh," Clark leaned back and slightly relaxed. He intentionally ignored Bruce's actual question as he believed the nosy neighbor, as Lois called him, just might be right. Bruce could not be trusted. "Barry is so cool."

Just as Bruce was about to repeat his question, Lois's cell phone rang. Lois looked at it. "That is work. I got to take this," Lois told them just before answering the phone. "Hello Perry… Yes, I am feeling much better, " She smiled as she looked at Clark because she knew he was the reason she was feeling better. Then Lois laughed at something Perry said. "Really? No way, never going to happen, tell him I said he can go to hell." Then she laughed again at something else Perry said. "I am in front of two gentlemen right now, so I can't say what I would really like to say…. You too, have a great day. Bye." Lois pressed end call.

"What was that about?" Bruce asked.

"Nothing important." Lois took a sip of her orange juice.

Clark was all too happy to answer Bruce's question as he heard every word. "Lex Luthor requested an interview with her. Her boss wasn't at all surprised she didn't want to do it. He even said her answer was much more lady like then he was expecting," Clark told him.

"I think I know what kind of answer he was expecting," Bruce laughed.

"You don't remember Lex, do you?" Lois asked.

"No, why? Should I? Is he a friend of mine or something?" Clark looked Lois in the eye as he remembered what the nosy neighbor had said about Lex and he wondered if her answer would match his.

Bruce couldn't help but laugh. "No, definitely not your friend," Bruce told him.

"How can I put this? Anybody who has actually tried to kill you, is definitely not your friend," Lois declared.

Bruce stopped laughing and looked Lois in the eye. "That is not necessarily true."

"You are kidding, I hope," Lois told Bruce.

"That depends, why did he try to kill me?" Clark asked looking Lois right in the eye. Based on what the neighbor said, Lex may have had a pretty strong motive.

"If you really wanted to know, you would have to ask him that question yourself," Lois told him without really thinking.

"I just might do that. I could pretend to be a reporter and take that interview on your behalf," Clark suggested.

"Could you picture Lex's reaction to that?" Lois turned to Bruce and laughed as she pictured the expression on Lex's face seeing the man he thought he killed waltz right in.

"Yes, I can," Bruce laughed. "As funny as that would be, I don't think it is a good idea."

"To tell the truth, Lex probably didn't have a real reason. He is just plain psychotic," Lois explained to Clark.

"I am not so sure about that," Clark sighed as he looked down at his plate. "Where is Lex anyway?"

"Prison," Bruce answered with too much of a smug look on his face. Clark frowned slightly as his face tensed up as this definitely matched what the nosey neighbor had said.

"Don't give it a second thought. He deserves to be there," Lois smiled trying to assure Clark, which just had the opposite effect on him. Clark believed she was naive to what kind of person he really was.

"What did he do? Commit a murder?" Clark questioned.

"That is just one of the many charges against him," Lois nodded.

* * *

A/N

Thank you to the two people who added this story to follows. I really appreciate it.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. What do you think of how Milton took things that are partly true and completely twisted them? What do you think his real goal is?


	10. Good Luck for Lex

When they went back to the hotel room, Bruce found a message in his email. He immediately decided to share with Lois. "You said you wanted to see the security footage," Bruce told her.

"What security footage?" Lois had forgotten all about it. Then Bruce played the video clip. They watched a man that looked exactly like Lex enter LexCorps, briefly chat with two employees, and waltz into Lex's office. They heard some loud noises and then this fake Lex sauntered out like he owed the place.

Clark watched Lex on screen clap his hands together, which triggered yet another flash back. "Bruce Wayne meets Clark Kent. I love it! I love bringing people together." Lex smiled. Clark stepped back slightly, his eyes fixated on Bruce's computer screen. Clark looked on stunned at how friendly Lex seemed.

"Damn he looks like Lex," Bruce commented as he watched this tape.

"But that can't be Lex. Lex is in prison. Isn't he?" Lois questioned starting to wonder if this person was an imposter or if the Lex in jail was.

"I honestly don't know," Bruce told her.

Lois couldn't help but to notice Clark seemed to be in a daze. "Remembering something?" Lois asked hopefully.

Clark hesitated before answering. "No, listen, I have some unfinished business in Central City," Clark said and before Lois would say anything at all, Clark kissed her on the lips slowly and passionately.

"Do you two want to be alone?" Bruce asked.

Clark finally stopped kissing Lois. "Oh, no!" Clark said as Lois nodded.

"Ok, what kind of business in Central City?" Bruce asked.

"There was this young lady, too young, don't even think about it," Clark warned Bruce who was clearly about to say something. "She supposedly knew someone who could help me get my memory back fast."

"Do you believe her," Lois asked.

"I don't know, but it is a chance I will have to take. I will be back, promise." Clark shook his head, then kissed Lois one more time before racing off. Bruce took Lois back to Wayne Manor in Gotham. Then he decided Batman was going to pay Lex a visit.

* * *

 **Prison**

Lex yet again found himself in that tiny room hand cuffed to a chair to face yet another visitor. He took a more careful survey of the room, trying to plan an escape. The chair was shackled down. The glass window between him and his guest wasn't big enough for most people to crawl through and wires definitely ran all the way through the glass, so breaking it would be nearly useless. The door opened out into the hallway, so hiding behind it wasn't much of an option. He looked across at his latest visitor. "My own personal little hell. Hello Helena." Lex grimaced.

"Nice to see you too Lex. How is that dream of becoming president of the United States working out for you?" Helena grinned on verge of laughing out loud as she put two thumbs up.

"Things didn't go to plan." Lex glared at Helena. His jaw dropped slightly as the hairs on the back of his neck seemed to stand on end. Lex wasn't about to be fooled by the same trick twice. He doubted his cousin would visit him in prison.

"Obviously," Helena exclaimed. "A prison record will sure put a damper on your election campaign."

"You are not getting a confession out of me," Lex told her in no uncertain terms.

"What are you talking about?" Helena asked.

"Don't pretend like you don't know. You are working for someone else," Lex fixed his gaze on her.

"I am a Luther. I don't work for anyone. Others work for us," Helena declared.

"What is next? Clark Kent?" Lex asked.

"Clark Kent? I remember him. He was this super.." As Helena spoke, Lex tried to cross his arms as now he was almost certain she wasn't who she said she was. "Cute reporter, I did an interview with for the Daily Planet." Helena smiled. Her eyes looked dreamy like a school girl with a crush.

"Are you trying to make me lose my lunch?" Lex's facial features all seemed to harden as he glared at Helena. "What are you doing here, besides making me ill?"

"Believe it or not, I came here to thank you!" Helena quickly regained her focus as she fixed her gaze on Lex.

"For what? Screwing up, making you look even better," Lex asked.

"No, for pulling my birth certificate, so I could find my real parents." Helena smiled at Lex. She had a warm glow about her that Lex rarely saw in anyone he interacted with. She seemed to show genuine appreciation.

"My pleasure, I thought you deserved to know what kind of trash you came from. Your birth mother, a common thief, how proud you must be. Imagine if that story leaked to the public." Lex smirked at her trying to make things clear. He wasn't doing her any favors. "I could see the headline now, daughter of a jewel thief steals the silver for the US in the Olympics."

"Silver? Lionel said he would disown me if I don't bring home the gold," Helena laughed.

"Lionel? You don't call him dad?" Lex questioned.

"Does he deserve to be called dad?" Helena retorted.

"You hate Lionel as much as I hate Lex, senior" Lex said.

"His little 'threat' to disown me is seriously making me think about throwing the game!" Helena nodded to Lex's question.

A dark haired bearded gentlemen walked in and sat next to Helena. "Hello Uncle Lionel," Lex snickered. "Helena and I were just talking."

"I know I heard," Lionel glared at Helena. "You need to learn some respect, young lady. I have given you everything."

"Everything I never wanted," Helena returned Lionel's glare.

Lionel waved his hand as if waving her off. Then he turned to Lex next. "You have brought shame to the Luthor family name. I used to defend you to my brother. But he was right about you. You are completely useless. An embarrassment. A disgrace. How dare you bring such shame on your family name," Lionel talked down to Lex.

"Why can't you be more like Helena," Lex mocked his dad as Lionel's speech was one he heard various versions of growing up all too often from his own dad, which was usually followed by a punch to the body, never to the face. Appearances were everything to daddy Luther.

"Dad!" Helena gritted her teeth and wrinkled her nose a bit as calling him dad was clearly repulsive to her.

"What?" Lionel glared at her as he believed in the age old adage children should be seen and not heard.

"Don't you have a friendship with president John Doe," Helena inquired.

"Friendship? Yeah, we will call it that," Lionel laughed with a bit of a smirk on his face. "Most of the world believes president John Doe is such a darn nice guy, but we know better."

Helena nodded in agreement. "Couldn't you?" Helena began.

"That is enough out of you. I wasn't finished," Lionel interrupted her abruptly.

"Yes you were. I don't have to sit here and take this." Lex pounded against the wall and called out in top volume. "Guard."

"Get him to give Lex a presidential pardon?" Helena finished what she was saying.

"What?" Lex finally took an interest in what Helena had to say.

"Shut your mouth young lady," Lionel glared at Helena and raised his fist to her.

"Bring it on," Helena immediately jumped up from her seat and took on a defensive karate stance.

"Is this really the way I brought you up?" Lionel glared at Helena.

"Maybe you should have bought me a Barbie doll instead of Karate lessons," Helena told Lionel without letting her guard down.

Lex laughed and clapped for probably the first time since he got stuck in this hell hole. "Would you really be able to get me a presidential pardon?" Lex asked.

"Knowledge is power and yes I know more than enough about president John Doe to get him to do pretty much anything, but ask yourself this, do you really think I would do that for you?" Lionel asked.

"Um, yes I do. Do you realize how much I know about you?" Lex's smile grew.

"I could get the presidential pardon for myself if you open your big mouth." Lionel glared at Lex. "You may have knowledge but you have no power."

Lex narrowed his eyes at Lionel. "That would be a paradox. Do you really think the bat of Gotham would give a damn about your presidential pardon if he found out who hired the assassin that murdered his parents?"

Lionel's face turned pale. Lionel knew he had taken out numerous hits on people over the years and there were many that could have been Batman's parents. He looked his nephew in the eye. Lex returned his eye contact making it clear he wasn't lying. "After careful consideration, I realize I should be helping family," Lionel nervously uttered.

"That is what I thought. Thank you Helena. My favorite cousin!" Lex smiled at her and she smiled back. "Now you truly earned that name Luthor." Helena's smile disappeared quickly with that.

"We are done here." Lionel and Helena both got up. The guard opened the door.

"You have another visitor." the guard told Lex.

Lionel's jaw dropped as his eyes opened wide. His hand went up covering his mouth as the Dark Knight himself walked in. Batman didn't notice Lionel's reaction because he was too preoccupied with Helena. He knew this girl was his daughter. Helena definitely inherited her mother's captivating eyes, which Batman could not help but to notice. He briefly imagined a life where he tried to raise this young lady. If any of his enemies knew Batman had a daughter, she would have been prime target for people like the Joker. Selina was probably right not to tell him about her.

"Speak of the devil, we were just talking about you!" Helena looked Batman in the eye with a smile on her face.

"What did I say about talking to strangers." Lionel grabbed Helena's hand and pulled her out the door. Batman watched them as they left and almost forgot about Lex.

"Your timing couldn't be better. To what do I owe the horror," Lex laughed with a bit of a smirk.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Batman gruffly told him clearly a bit annoyed.

"Of course, I got a visit from my favorite cousin and got some really good news. I am going to be getting out of here soon," Lex informed him.

"Don't count on it," Batman told him.

"Um, there is nothing you can do about." Lex smiled.

"Not that I want to ruin your day. Ok, maybe I do, but your office was broken into," Batman grinned at Lex rubbing his hands together.

"What did you steal from me this time," Lex scoffed at him.

"Actually the perpetrator looked exactly like you," Batman pointed at Lex.

"That I didn't know," Lex grimaced.

"Any idea what was taken?" Batman asked.

"A flash drive for one thing," Lex answered quickly without really thinking and once he said it he wished he had not mentioned it.

"What was on the flash drive?" Batman asked an obvious question.

"Nothing I would want to share with you." Lex looked down at his hands.

"Any idea who is behind it?" Batman asked.

"I know exactly who is behind it. He is a dead man!" Lex nodded with a grin. "I will deal with him as soon as I get out of here. On that note, I was going to give Lois Lane the scoop of the century but she never showed up."

"I heard about that. Her exact words were go to hell. After the message you left on her answering machine, did you really think there was even a chance she would come talk to you? What did you do? Use your one phone call to call her?" Batman asked Lex.

"Yes, I did. See I knew my lawyers would circle around like the vultures they are. They would see the news and know it is pay day!" Lex rubbed his hands together and grinned. "So I thought I would have a little fun instead. Just wish I could have seen the look on her face when she played that message."

"Of course you must realize that Lois is never going to take you up on that interview request." Batman took a step toward Lex.

"Oh well. Doesn't matter anymore. She didn't want the scoop of the century." Lex leaned back in his seat.

"And what scoop is that," Batman demanded to know.

"That batman is really Bruce Wayne," Lex looked him in the eye and studied his expression carefully. Lex was almost paranoid about the possibility of falling for another imposter. Batman's jaw dropped as his eyes opened wide. Lex recognized that look. It was the same look Superman gave when Lex showed that he knew all of his names. Lex actually said this to make sure he had the real Batman and not another Milton Fine trick. He laughed feeling satisfied. "I am just kidding. They would never print that. That would be a lawsuit that would put the paper out of business, or we would have one dead reporter. Of course she could leak the story to an internet blogger. That worked out great for her before." Lex laughed as he could tell Batman was enraged at what he was saying. Lex was now grateful for the physical divide between him and the bat.

"You son of a bitch." Batman made a fist.

"Actually what I wanted to tell her was bigger than that." Lex stopped laughing and started getting serious again.

"Tell me," Batman commanded.

"I believe Miss Lane would love to blow the whistle on my former ally and co-conspirators in efforts to destroy Superman. Just as you were tricked into the conspiracy against Superman, so was I," Lex looked down at his hands as he knew his words were a half-truth at best. "Even more so then you. See I thought I was the king in this little chess game. The reality is, I was actually used as someone else's pawn. The true king got away with everything."

"So who was the real 'king'?" Batman asked. If he says Bruce Wayne, he is dead.

"That is what I was going to tell Ms. Lane," Lex responded.

"Tell me," Batman demanded. "Or will I have to beat it out of you?"

"You don't need to resort to threats. His name is Dr. Milton Fine. He is a psychiatrist working at Arkham Asylum. He has also been assigned to do my psychological evaluation for the courts," Lex told him.

"Never heard of him." Batman wasn't sure he was telling the truth. "Why would he want to destroy Superman?"

"I honestly don't know. Hopefully you still have some of that green rock you stole from me. You are going to need it." Lex looked him right in the eye as this time he fully believed what he was saying.

"You think he is from Superman's home planet too?" Batman asked.

"I do," Lex nodded with a dangerous grin. "That is probably why he wanted Superman out of the way. The man in blue is probably the only one who could stop him in whatever he was planning, at least that is probably what he believes."

"If you are right about this he has another thing coming," Batman declared as he clenched his fist. Lex grinned. "Wipe that smile off your face. I am not falling for the same trick twice. I will be doing a full investigation before taking any action."

Lex's grin fell. "I would expect nothing less."

"Any idea what his plans are?" Batman asked.

"The only thing I know for sure is that he plans to kill me," Lex looked him right in the eye.

* * *

 **Arkham**

Batman returned home and changed out to a suit and tie. He even shaved and combed his hair. He did manage to find a small fragment of the glowing green rock left over from his battle with Superman, which he put in his pocket. He made his way to Arkham Asylum. He also brought a simple listening device that looked and worked like an ordinary pen.

When he arrived at Arkham, Bruce first spoke to the manager which was someone he knew well. He got an overview of Dr. Milton Fine. "Dr. Milton Fine is an unusually brilliant man who always gets his work done in a timely fashion. He is very detail oriented and efficient. He only works here part time. I have been trying to convince him to go full time, but he has too many other obligations," the manager informed Bruce.

"I would like to meet with him as soon as possible," Bruce told him.

"He is in his office, fifth floor, number 512," the manager told Bruce. Bruce went to his office and just opened the door and walked right in. He owned this place, so he felt no need to knock. He heard the clacking sound of the keyboard as this man sat rapidly typing away on the computer. "Mr. Wayne," he stood up as Bruce entered the room. He approached him. "I am Dr. Fine. It is an honor to meet you sir," He shook his hand with a firm hand shake and he looked him in the eye.

"I heard you will be doing a psychological evaluation on Lex Luthor, for the courts," Bruce told him.

"You heard correct. I am doing that strictly on my own time on my own home computers," Milton told him. "I am not using any Arkham resources or time for that."

"Oh, I am not concerned about that," Bruce told him.

A teenaged girl walked in Mr. Fine's office. "In the parking lot, I saw..." Her words suddenly trailed off as she looked at Bruce and Bruce looked back at her.

"Oh my god," Bruce quietly said to himself as he realized this was the same young lady he met in Central City a few days ago with Clark. She stumbled as she approached and her breathing became heavy.

"I am meeting with…" Milton tried to dismiss her then he realized how she was acting. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know. I feel like I am going to faint," she told him. She slightly fell, catching herself on the desk.

"Go outside, get some fresh air, some sun shine," Milton said as he pointed to the balcony door. She nodded and slowly made her way to the balcony. She closed the sliding door behind her.

"Who was that?" Bruce asked.

"Oh, she is my latest intern," Milton answered the question.

"I mean what is her name," Bruce asked. Bruce thought she looked a bit young to be an intern.

"Kara, her name is Kara." Milton answered the question. Milton closed the curtain to the balcony as he wanted to put her out of sight and out of mind. Well he did that, Bruce added his special pen to the holder that already had several pens in it. "I hope you don't have a problem with me doing the court reports for Lex."

"I was actually interested in reading the report. I am no expert on this, but in my opinion, Lex is nuts," Bruce told him.

"You don't know the half of it." Milton nodded. "Definitely, he has numerous psychological issues. Personally I would be happy to share the report with you, but legally, I cannot, not without the court or Mr. Luthor's consent."

"I understand," Bruce told him. "Lex believes I have him over a barrel so to speak, so I believe he will consent to this. He has to. Lex thinks you plan to kill him."

Bruce expected Milton to either laugh at that because it was utterly ridiculous or get angry at the false accusation, but without an emotion at all Milton just uttered, "Now I can add paranoid to the report." Bruce maintained strong eye contact with Milton the entire time and did not see any of the usual signs of someone lying in his gestures, eye contact, blinking or any of that. "Oh, wait, that is already there. Lex has a few screws loose to say the least, but thankfully his plan totally and completely failed," Milton looked at Bruce with a perfectly even expression.

Bruce pretended he didn't know Superman was still alive. "I wouldn't say totally failed. He did manage to kill Superman."

"No, that wasn't his goal at all. That is incidental," Milton told him.

"Ok, Dr. Lecter… Explain yourself," Bruce didn't understand that at all.

Milton ignored being called by the wrong name as he didn't get the Silence of the Lamb reference. "Ok, don't let Lex's goofy, childlike innocence fool you. The love of shooting hoops and jolly rancher candy is all a facade, a mask if you will. Underneath it all, he is a very dangerous schemer starving for power."

"But he has been exposed, the world knows it now," Bruce said as Milton's words really struck a chord with him. He knew his billionaire drunken playboy image was largely a façade to make absurd the idea that at night Bruce Wayne would be doing anything other than getting drunk and screwing his latest bimbo. The idea that he was the dark knight would be simply laughed off.

"Exactly! Imagine if you will, what would have happened if Lex's plan had succeeded. If Superman actually did what he was ordered to do, rip off the head of the bat and bring it to him caught on camera for the whole world to see. What would the world think of Superman then? More importantly, what would the world think of Lex for doing away with him after that?" Milton posed these questions. Bruce looked him in the eye yet again looking for those telltale signs of a liar. Milton's tones remained even and unwavering.

"Lex would be the savior," Bruce uttered slowly as he began to understand. "What if Batman actually won?"

"Who won the fight didn't really matter. All Lex had to do was make the winner look evil. Batman almost does that all by himself. Actually killing someone as good as Superman seals the deal. He kills Batman off with that monster he created and the plan still works." Milton stared Bruce in the eye as he said all that.

"You are saying he did all this just for popularity?" Bruce glared at Milton as what he was saying infuriated him.

"Think bigger. He isn't some high school kid trying to win the heart of the prom queen. Instead of being branded a criminal, he would be a hero, a shoe in for public offices. He could have public backing in his anti-meta human agenda, if history taught you anything, this would have played out very similar to the Salem Witch trials. He would have public opinion on his side. He could go after anyone." Milton looked to the curtain he closed.

"Holy crap! He is not only crazy. He is just down right evil," Bruce looked at Milton completely shocked.

"Bingo," Milton said.

"Let me just check on your intern before I go," Bruce suggested.

"Please don't. She will be fine. She has many allergies. She is probably allergic to your cologne or something," Milton suggested.

"Or something," Bruce said as the slight green glow from his pocket caught his eye. Bruce left.

* * *

A/n

I got this idea of what Milton tells Batman from seeing a very anti-Superman poster. One of the things splashed on it was Luthor Savior, which solidified this idea in my head. I have not decided yet if I should make what Milton said to Bruce fact or crap.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Does Milton's theory make sense that Lex wanted to make Superman look evil so Lex would look like a hero when he did away with him?


	11. Knowledge is Power

**Arkham Asylum**

As Bruce returned to his car, everything Milton said about Lex echoed through his head. Lex led Bruce to believe Milton was another man from the same home planet as Superman with a sinister agenda. Presumably the presence of this green rock that proved so destructive to Superman, appeared to have no effect on Milton, well the young lady he knew he found with Clark had a strong allergic reaction. In Central City Kara seemed so strong and sure of herself, yet here the simple presence of that rock made her seem so weak and fragile. Bruce turned on his listening device and tried to listen to Milton and Kara talk. All he heard was a faint murmur of a conversation completely drowned out by the fast pace click of the keyboard.

A few minutes later, Milton stopped typing abruptly. "No, don't try to talk to him." Milton raced to the door and held it shut.

"Why?" Kara asked.

"I don't want you getting yourself killed, that is why!" Milton continued to hold the door shut.

"I was just going to talk to him." Kara tried to push him away from the door.

"Kal already tried that, apologized to him even! He poisoned him with kryptonite and then almost killed him." Milton delivered a half-truth with a deliberate omission of important information. Bruce slammed his hand down on the dashboard. He realized what Milton just told Kara pertained to Batman and contained far more truth then he would like to admit.

"All because he apologized? That can't be the only reason," Kara gasped as she took one step backward.

"It's not! It is all about power. Simple as that. People like him are in power in this world and they will do anything to keep it. They see people like you and Kal as a threat to that power, so they will always seek to destroy you or anyone else really, who threatens their power," Milton insisted.

"That is not true," Bruce muttered to himself as he listened. He wondered if Milton really believed what he was saying or if he really was as manipulative as Lex had suggested.

"That is sick," Kara declared.

"Welcome to the human race. Go ahead, explore the city. See for yourself what the people of this planet are like." Milton nodded.

"Sure, that is a recipe for disaster. Send a pretty teenage girl to the crime capital of the world to formulate her opinion of the human race! What could possibly go wrong?" Bruce muttered to himself as he continued to listen.

"I will do whatever it takes to protect you, but please don't go looking for trouble. I guarantee you that is all you are going to find with that one. Once Kal gets his memory back, I know he will back me on this one. Kal should have just incinerated him when he had the chance," Milton declared.

As Bruce heard this, he remembered how easily Superman melted down that weapon system he had rigged up. For the first time, he realized how easily he could have just incinerated him too. True his suit was equipped to handle high heat, but probably not rated for the level of intense heat Superman delivered.

Kara mumbled something under her breath and the fire in her eyes flashed over with a brilliant burst of yellow energy. She calmed herself down focusing on the tranquil deep ocean pattern of the carpeting on the floor before she finally glanced up a Milton. "Ok, I get it! I won't talk to him," Kara appeased Milton.

"Stay here," Milton demanded. The next thing Bruce heard was the door slamming shut.

Bruce laughed. He knew when he was a teenager, he would have ignored a direct order like that too. Bruce contemplated tossing the Kryptonite in his glove compartment, but then decided against it. He definitely believed Kara was the same type of alien as Superman and probably has similar potential for danger and a similar weakness to this rock. He thought it safer to bring it with him. Bruce headed back toward Arkham. Bruce caught Kara as she was exiting the building. Kara looked at Bruce.

"Let's talk," Bruce walked up next to her.

"What do you want?" Kara stumbled a bit and grabbed for the railing of the walkway. Bruce caught her wrapping his arms around her waist. He helped her to sit down on the stairs as he sat next to her.

"Are you really his intern?" Bruce grabbed her arm.

"No, sir," Kara answered a bit too politely.

"I didn't think so, any idea why he lied?" Bruce scoffed at that. Kara rolled her eyes at him, then reached up, grabbed the rail and tried to pull herself up. "No, you don't! We are still talking." Bruce grabbed her arm and gently yanked her back down.

"Please just let me go," Kara pleaded.

"Just a few questions and then you will be free to go." Bruce tried to assure Kara.

"Do you really expect me to believe that? I know all about you, Mister." Kara tried to shake Bruce's grip. She opened her mouth about to scream.

"Nobody will hear you over that monstrosity." Bruce pointed out the loud riding mower that tore up the grass forcing it all to conform to one uniform length. The noise of this beast of a mower successfully drown out most other sound.

"It is in your own best interest if you just leave me alone." Kara tried to convince Bruce.

Bruce disliked the implied threat that carried. What was it about these aliens that made them always assume they had the upper hand? He remembered Superman's vexing statement about 'if I wanted it, you would be dead already' or Superman just outright ordering him to stop responding to the bat signal. He couldn't help wonder where this arrogance came from. "You are in no position to make threats young lady." Bruce kept a good grip on her arm.

"I wasn't," Kara said flatly.

"Really, then what did you mean by is it in my own best interest to just let you go?" Bruce asked.

"You will die if you don't," Kara looked him straight in the eye with an even unreadable expression.

"Sounds like a threat to me. I will take my chances." Bruce nodded, as he tightened his grip on Kara's arm.

"What? No! I am not a killer! Lucky for Alfred, you are, but not so lucky for me," Kara's tone remained unwavering.

"Alfred? What are you talking about?" Bruce questioned.

"You want to know?" Kara looked Bruce in the eye. She took something out of her pocket and threw it in the direction of the mower coming close to hitting it. "Go get it!"

"What was that?" Bruce asked.

"The flash drive we borrowed from Lex Luthor. Better get that before that monstrosity does." Kara smiled.

Bruce thought about dragging Kara along with him as he went after that flash drive, but she would just slow him down. Kara was right, that mower was getting close and could easily destroy the drive if it ran over it. He knew Kara would run away. "If you are still looking for Kal, he went back to Central City looking for you," Bruce quickly told Kara before heading for the flash drive. The second Bruce turned his head, Kara took off nearly instantaneously.

"Stop! Stop!" Bruce called out as he waved his arms around and raced toward the mower. The lawn mower came to a stop. Bruce sighed as he noticed Kara was already gone. Bruce looked around for the flash drive.

"Is this what you are looking for," the young man who operated the mower asked as he picked up the flash drive and tossed it to Bruce.

"Thanks," Bruce caught the drive.

Bruce returned to his car and headed for home. He forgot his listening device was still on. He heard the door to Milton's office open again. "I got rid of him for you. It is safe for you to go now. He told me that Kal went back to Central City looking for you," Milton said.

"Thanks, I will find him." Kara nodded.

"What the!" Bruce drove through a red light.

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

Bruce turned on the TV, set the volume low so it was just background noise. Then he turned on his lap top and impatiently waited for the machine to come up to desk top. He paced as he waited.

His desk top finally came up. Bruce inserted the flash drive and clicked to open it. Of course the darn thing was encrypted, so he ran the drive through decryption. "Mind having some company," Lois joined him in the study.

Bruce looked up at her. "Oh, not at all. This is going to take some time anyway." Bruce turned off the monitor and let the decryption run. He grabbed a wine glass and filled it with scotch. He reached for a second glass. "Want a drink?"

"No, thanks," Lois refused.

"I did a bit of investigating on Lex today," Bruce told her.

"Really, what did you find out?" Lois asked.

"Lex just might have been tricked with his involvement in the Superman case," Bruce answered. He did not fully believe that, but after Lois's statement earlier about 'anybody who tried to kill you is definitely not your friend' he wanted to find out if she could be forgiving.

"Of course, given the charges against him, he would like the courts to believe that, display himself as the victim," Lois blew that one off.

"What if it is true? What if there really is someone out there more sinister? What if Lex was as tricked into the whole thing as the Bat was?" Bruce asked.

"You know what? I don't care if he was tricked into doing it. Lex still did it. He went too far." Lois crossed her arms. Bruce was about to say something. "Do you know the full extent of what Lex did?"

"Yes. He kidnapped his mother and ordered him to rip off Batman's head or she would die," Bruce told her. Lois's jaw dropped as that was far more graphic then the version of this story she heard.

"Sick bastard," Lois felt a knot in her stomach as she frowned at that. "Maybe I do need that drink."

Bruce filled a second glass and handed it to her. "What of the Gotham Bat?" Bruce took a sip of his scotch.

"I do believe he was tricked into his involvement. Heck, for all we know, Lex did the same thing with him that he did with Superman. Threatened the life of someone close to him if he didn't cooperate. Batman didn't say that, but still wouldn't surprise me if it were true." Lois took a sip of her drink. "Wow, that is strong." She put the glass down.

Bruce's eyes opened wide as he had a sudden startling revelation. He dropped his wine glass. "Where is Alfred?" Bruce asked.

"I think he went out to pick up your dry cleaning. I will clean that up. It is the least I can do." Lois grabbed a small brush and began to pick up the pieces. He can't even clean up his own mess, Lois kept this little thought to herself.

* * *

a/n

I wanted to say thank you to the two people who put my story on follows and favorites since my last update.

Gotmoreissuesthanvogue, thank you so much for your review. I extremely appreciate it. I am glad you like my portrayal of Lex and Bruce.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Was Kara actually threatening Bruce or did he misunderstand this? Is Bruce really too lazy to clean up his own spill or was there another reason for his sudden interest in where Alfred was?


	12. You are under arrest

**Central City**

Clark returned to Central City quickly. He scanned every building. He found he could easily see right through most of them. As he went around, he didn't see any sign of the young lady he was looking for. He even looked through the roof tops just to make sure nobody would be dropping in on him. He managed to find that same street corner where someone tried to mug him and Batman dropped in from the roof top. Clark saw no one on the roof. Even though plenty of people walked by, none of them seemed familiar until Barry caught his eye. "Barry," Clark called out with a smile.

Clark must have been loud enough as he heard him over all the noise of the city. "Hi Kal. Good to see you again." Barry looked at him with a bit of an odd smirk.

"You too." Clark smiled at him.

"Did I tell you I work as a forensics scientist?" Barry grimaced at Clark.

"No." Clark shook his head.

"Only because you were concerned, I ran your finger prints." Barry slowed his talking down for dramatic effect.

"And?" Clark questioned as he raised his hands up about parallel to his shoulders. The whole world seemed to stop as the lights on both sides of the intersection went red. A white light flashed above. The cars piled up on all four corners. The walk lights all flashed 'don't walk' as lines of pedestrians stood by waiting for the walk light to change. Clark heard the oncoming police siren headed their way. Somehow Clark felt a compulsion to go off to help whatever the police emergency was. Then that nagging feeling hit him again. What if that police car was coming for him? If that is the case, he decided he would accept the consequences.

"You are under arrest!" Barry grimaced with an odd expression as his cheeks pulled in. He forced himself not to laugh.

Kara raced over starting at that same corner where Kal first ran away from Batman. "What are you doing?" Kara asked.

"Getting arrested." Clark closed his eyes and put his hands together ready for Barry to handcuff him.

"What?" Kara questioned.

"You have the right to…" Barry yet again paused for dramatic effect. Then he began to laugh. "Join me for a drink."

"You didn't really run my prints did you?" Clark dropped his arms to his side as he let out an awkward laugh. Clark didn't appreciate Barry's sense of humor this time, yet at the same time, he was relieved this was only a joke. A police car navigated around the stopped traffic and raced down the road. The white light stopped flashing as the traffic returned to normal.

"Actually I did," Barry informed him.

"From what?" Clark asked.

"Remember that piece of paper where you gave me your address? Your prints were on it. My search came up clean, not surprised at all," Barry informed him.

"Clean meaning...?" Clark questioned raising a brow.

"Clean, no match. All that really means is you were never charged with a crime," Barry informed him.

"Doesn't prove I never committed a crime does it?" Clark asked the question burning in his mind.

"True!" Barry nodded.

Clark turned to Kara. "You said you knew someone who could help me get my memory back fast. Any chance that is still on?" Clark crossed his fingers.

"I was wrong about him. He can't be trusted." Kara shook her head and closed her eyes.

"Please, if there is even a chance. I will have to take it. Seriously, what is the worst that could happen?" Clark pleaded.

"You don't want to know," Kara looked down at the ground shaking her head.

"Yes, I do." Clark insisted. Kara shook her head and looked at him briefly. Her eyes were filled with tears. "I need to know. Even if it isn't good news. I need to know the truth."

"Fine, you want to know what the worst that could happen is. He could destroy the entire planet," Kara declared.

"What?" Clark questioned as he found her answer truly unbelievable.

"The only one who ever had that kind of power was Superman and he is dead, so that is not going to happen." Barry touched Kara on the back.

"Who?" Kara questioned.

"You don't know who Superman is? What planet are you from?" Barry asked as usual joking. Kara's jaw dropped, yet no words came out.

"Hey, I don't know who Superman is either," Clark told Barry.

"That is only because you have amnesia. What is her excuse?" Barry pointed to Kara while talking to Clark.

The various pedestrians passing by began to stare. Even though they were politely quiet, Kara heard their murmuring. They said things like 'dumb blond' or 'what is wrong with her' or 'wow, she must be stupid.'

"Could we go somewhere more private?" Clark requested.

"Sure, follow me," Barry escorted both of them back to his place. Barry took them past the porch and into his living room.

Kara noticed a picture on the mantle of Barry and another woman standing together. He wore a tuxedo. She wear a white lacy gown and a white vale. "Is that your wife?" Kara asked.

"Oh my god. It is a wedding picture. Of course that is my wife. Why else would she be dressed like that," Barry shook his head. "Where did you meet her, a Mensa meeting?" Barry asked Clark.

Kara looked down at the ground. She had been on this planet less than a week. Although they had marriage on Krypton too, they never wore a dress that looked like that. She didn't know. Milton had warned her that the people of this planet regarded aliens with fear, suspicion and hate. As much as she didn't like being called stupid, she decided it was better than admitting her true origins. "I am just a dumb blond," Kara explained.

"She isn't stupid," Clark told Barry. Then he turned to Kara. "You can trust him. She is from another planet. She isn't familiar with our customs."

Kara briefly glared at Clark, as she regretted that she actually told him that. Then she forced on a fake smile. "That is a good one," She laughed as she tried to pass off what Clark just said as a joke. "Nah, I am just stupid."

"He doesn't joke around," Barry pointed to Clark, then he smiled at Kara as he extended his hand to her. "Welcome to the planet."

"Thanks, Barry." Kara smiled and realized Milton's warnings may have been wrong, or worse an outright lie.

"So much for you being dumb. You actually remembered my name. I remember yours too… Wait, no, I don't, you never said it." Barry was surprised she actually remembered his name.

"My name is Kara," she gave Barry her name as she shook his hand.

"Truthfully, I thought you were too busy drooling over Batman to even notice me," Barry looked her over.

"He is very attractive," Kara sat down.

"You are attracted to guys in masks? If I were still young and single, I would go get mine," Barry joked putting two thumbs up. Clark and Kara both laughed.

"What is the point of a mask anyway? You can see right through it." Kara shrugged as she was still laughing.

Clark stopped laughing. "What did he look like?" Clark's eyes focused on Kara as his smile flattened. He now wished he didn't run off quite so quickly and actually took a few seconds to look, so he could recognize him if he saw him again.

Barry looked at Clark's expression. "She is kidding," Barry realized he was taking Kara far too seriously.

"He is middle aged, extremely attractive with brown hair, dreamy hazel eyes, a great body, very well endowed," Kara began to answer the question.

As he listened, Clark nodded. "Well endowed! Kara!" Clark put his hand on his hip and shot her a stern look.

"What? I couldn't help it. It wasn't like I was trying to look." Kara shrugged and then admitted. "Ok, maybe just a little."

"You little pervert! I knew there was something I liked about you." Barry laughed.

"Don't encourage her." Clark shook his head at both of them feeling a bit disgusted.

"First, stop taking her so seriously. She can't really see through a mask. Second, don't be such a prude." Barry continued to laugh.

"I like you," Kara looked at Barry and laughed.

"I am sure you wouldn't like her checking you out like that," Clark declared.

"Go for it," Barry began to dance around Kara. Kara laughed and smiled as she looked him up and down.

"See, he doesn't mind." Kara grinned.

"Only because he doesn't realize you can really do that," Clark rolled his eyes at both of them.

"Of course, she can't," Barry laughed.

"Fine, just to prove a point, you never gave me your full name. Barry must be a nickname because your first name is actually Bartholomew. Your last name is Allen and your middle name begins with an H," Clark told him.

Barry stopped laughing and dancing. "How did you know all that," Barry asked.

"Read it off your driver's license," Clark answered him. Barry checked to make sure he still had his wallet, which of course he did.

"You can do that too?" Barry's smile disappeared.

"Your wife is a lucky woman!" Kara nodded with a bit of a smirk. She looked him over stopping her gaze just below his waist. "Make that a very lucky woman."

Clark thought he should be furious, but Barry's grin seemed to be ear to ear.

* * *

A/N

I did make a small change to the first chapter. I really doubt anyone would notice accept maybe the two people I mentioned this to before doing it.

gotmoreissuesthanvogue and bookworm6390

Yes, Dr. Milton Fine is definitely Braniac. Thank you both for your reviews, I really appreciate it.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. What did you think of Barry's joke on Clark?


	13. secrets and lies

In the early evening, Bruce and Diana met up at his lake house. Bruce left Lois alone with Alfred back at the manor. He brought his lap top that was still decrypting the flash drive with him.

"What is this?" Diana looked at the laptop.

"A flash drive borrowed from Lex Luther," Bruce gave a curt answer.

"Stolen?" Diana questioned.

"From Lex probably, but it was given to me," Bruce gave a minimal and overly simplified explanation.

"Who gave it to you?" Diana shook her head as she paced around the room. She found this odd.

"The young lady I found with Clark back in Central City," Bruce answered.

"How did she get and why did she give it to you?" Diana paced around the room.

"Don't know. Don't care." Bruce barely listened to her at this point. He stared at his monitor waiting for the decryption to complete.

"What are you expecting to find on that?" Diana asked shaking her head.

"Something Lex didn't want me to know." Bruce let out a small smile feeling satisfied that he was about to learn Lex's secrets as the decryption finally completed. Bruce immediately noticed a folder simply entitled "Superman" and another entitled "Batman." Diana stopped pacing and pulled up a seat beside him and looked on the screen too. Bruce clicked on the Batman folder first. He scanned the list of files and clicked on one labeled Operation Alfred. As he read the file, his eyes seemed to open wide, as his jaw dropped slightly. Bruce clenched his fist as he realized his fears were correct. Kara's words echoed in his head. 'I am not a killer! Lucky for Alfred, you are,' as he read over a detailed plan to kidnap Alfred and use him as leverage to force Batman into a fight to the death against Superman. He knew Kara was right. Lex abandoned this plan simply because Batman was all too eager to kill.

During the week he believed Superman to be dead, Bruce had wished things could have gone differently. He believed that if he could have caught on to Luther quicker, that he could have changed the outcome. Perhaps even stopped Lex from creating Doomsday in the first place. Now he realized if he had, nothing would have changed. Alfred would have been kidnapped too. Lex had detailed information of all of Alfred's activities outside the manor. He knew about his doctor and dentist appointments, what grocery stores he frequented, even where he took his dry cleaning, everything really. "I am glad I didn't open this in front of Ms. Lane," Bruce declared.

"Obviously!" Diana crossed her arms as she glared at the screen. Of course Diana felt disgust toward Lex for even thinking of such a horrible plan, yet at the same time, she also felt a distaste for Bruce in regard to why this plan wasn't carried out.

Bruce's anger only grew as he continued to shuffle through files. Lex wasn't kidding when he said he had been sitting on his little secret for over a decade. He even found out many of his flings were on Luther's payroll, presumably to spy on him. Much of the information was sold to the Joker, which directly led to the death of his ex-partner Jason Todd. "I am going to kill that son of a bitch!" He slammed his fist down on his desk.

"Calm down!" Diana flinched as she backed away.

"I am calm," Bruce insisted with a raised voice.

"Let's look at the files on Superman." Diana nudged his hand off the track ball and took control of it. She closed the files on Batman and opened the Superman files instead. She found an operation Martha file. She glanced over the file quickly and as expected this was just like the operation Alfred, except this one was actually carried out due to Superman's uncooperativeness.

"Alright, what about that one on Lois Lane?" Diana clicked on a file simply titled Lois Lane. As they read the file, they both looked at each other.

"I don't believe it!" Diana's jaw dropped.

"Me neither, should we question Lois about this?" Bruce suggested.

"No, I would be questioning the person who gave you the flash drive," Diana suggested.

"Last I knew she went back to Central City looking for him," Bruce pointed to the screen. He dialed Barry who answered promptly.

"Mr. Wayne, hello," Barry answered as caller id revealed who was calling. Bruce put his phone on speaker phone so Diana would hear the call too.

"Listen Clark went back to Central City, so did a young lady…" Bruce began.

"Who's Clark," Barry interrupted with a question.

"The one you were playing black jack with at the casino." Bruce looked on puzzled.

"Oh, you mean Kal," Barry answered.

"Right. Anyway, they went to Central City. Any chance you could try and find…" Bruce began.

"They are both here now at my house," Barry interrupted then he realized Kara vividly shook her head no and waved her hands.

"Damn it!" Kara mumbled to herself as she frowned.

"Any chance you could get them to come to my place," Bruce requested.

"Tell him sure, why not?" Clark nodded. Even though he wasn't on the phone with him, he still easily heard Bruce.

"Not a chance!" Kara shook her head no as she heard him too.

"He says yes, she says no," Barry answered Bruce.

"Ok, put Kara on the phone," Bruce requested.

"I don't think she wants to talk to you," Barry told him.

"I don't care. Just put her on the phone," Bruce commanded. Diana rolled her eyes at him.

"He really wants to talk to you. What is the harm in talking to him? It is over the phone. He can't do anything to you." Barry assured Kara.

"Fine, I will talk to him." Kara agreed as Barry handed her the phone. "Thanks for telling us where to find Kal."

"You are welcome. Glad I could help." Bruce smiled.

"If I broke some kind of rule by visiting Milton at work, I am sor…" Kara stopped herself from saying 'sorry' as she remembered what Milton said about how poorly he takes apologies. "I don't want to get you… Milton in any trouble."

"If you are his intern, you have just as much right to be there as he does," Bruce told her.

"What is an intern?" Kara asked. Barry quickly explained to Kara what an intern was.

Bruce pressed the mute button on his phone again. "It wasn't her who gave me the flash drive," Bruce told Diana.

"If not her, then who did and why?" Diana asked this same question again.

"Let me wrap up this phone call," Bruce told Diana. Bruce unmuted his phone. "I would really like to see you again."

"I don't think that is such a good idea. Milton says I am allergic to your cologne," Kara reminded him with a bit of a laugh as she twirled her hair.

"We both know that isn't really what you are allergic to," Bruce told her calmly.

"Oh, so in other words, you did that on purpose. How did you know I would even be there," Kara frowned a bit as her tone became considerably more serious.

"I didn't. You weren't the one I was after," Bruce answered her quickly.

"Who then?" Kara asked as she stared at Clark. "Kal?"

"No, Milton," Bruce declared.

Kara laughed. "You must be joking. You thought you were going to stop Milton with kryptonite?" She continued to laugh.

Bruce was about to question Kara about what was so funny, when Diana distracted him by calling his attention back to the computer screen. "Look at this, final payment in the amount of fifty thousand dollars will be paid to Lois Lane from the Metropolis Auction House for all the information and services she provided," Diana read out loud what was on the screen.

"Looks like this stuff on Lois might not be a lie after all," Bruce said.

Clark grabbed the cell phone right out of Kara's hand. "What is this about Lois?"

"You don't want to know," Bruce pushed the mute button on his cell phone again. "Metropolis Auction House? Damn it! You should have opened that envelope when I asked you to." Bruce unmuted his cell phone. "Tell Barry I will call him back." Bruce ended the call abruptly.

Bruce played the security footage of the imposter breaking into Lex's office. "Whoever stole that drive, is perfectly capable of impersonating Lex," Bruce explained as he played the clip. "The young lady, who looked just like Kara, told me she wasn't his intern. Kara doesn't even know what an intern is," Bruce began to explain.

"So you think whoever impersonated Lex also impersonated Kara?" Diana reasoned.

"Exactly, and god only knows who else." Bruce nodded. "At any rate, my little house guest has some serious explaining to do."

* * *

a/n  
gotmoreissuesthanvogue Thank you for the new review. As always, it is really appreciated.

I know I left lots of open story pieces, now I am starting to tie some of them up. I hope people enjoy. I would also like to thank the new person who has added this story to reviews and favorites.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. What did you think of Lex's backup plan operation Alfred?


	14. Lex's Long Awaited News

Lex just got finished explaining to Victor, his lawyer, that he actually was tricked into confessing to the capital bombing. His head bowed down to the desk in front of him, with his face securely in the palm of his hands.

"Lex, what were you thinking?" Victor shook his head. "Please no more confessions. Ok? If that tape shows up in court, I will do my best to have it declared inadmissible. Please don't do that to me again."

Lex looked up with an expression like someone who just got slapped in the face. "What do you mean to you?" Lex glared at Victor.

"This is an important case. I need to win it. My reputation as a lawyer is riding on this," Victor explained.

"Oh, I didn't realize your reputation is riding on this. My life is riding on this." Lex narrowed his eyes emanating hate.

"Exactly, so learn to shut your pie hole, or I will have to have your tongue ripped out," Victor threatened.

Lex's face briefly hardened into a scowl. His lips curled in as he smirked a bit. "So tell me, do you charge extra for that service?" Lex glared at his lawyer.

"Get a sense of humor. That was a joke. I was just kidding," Victor told Lex.

Milton Fine stepped in and took a seat next to Victor. "Considering what he has done to witnesses, I would take a threat like that very seriously from him if I were you," Milton advised Lex.

"Speaking of witnesses, any luck with Ms. Lane?" Lex asked.

"No luck, the defense has her in witness protection." Victor shook his head.

"What do you want with her?" Milton asked. Lex's expression hardened and his glare intensified.

Victor turned to Milton. "If looks could kill, you would be dead right now," Victor laughed.

"Whatever helps the insanity defense..." Milton nodded casually.

"Well we are on that subject, did you finish your report?" Victor asked.

"Sure did, unless there is anything else we need to add," Milton answered as he passed Victor a folder. "I am recommending he be sent to Arkham for treatment of his mental issues."

"Arkham? Where you work? I am not sure I want to go with the insanity defense!" Lex declared as he thought about Milton getting control over him.

"Speaking as your lawyer and your… Who am I kidding? I am just your lawyer. It is your best chance of not getting the chair," Victor informed him.

"Could you wait for us out side? I would like a private chat with Mr. Luther," Milton requested.

"Go, ahead, it is ok." Lex nodded as Victor left.

"Bust me out of here right now, or I will expose you," Lex commanded.

"Go ahead, expose me. Should do wonders for your insanity defense." Milton nodded as he spoke in his usual overly calm manor. "I had a little visit from Bruce Wayne."

"Did that mess up your plan?" Lex stared him down with a malevolent smirk. "I warned you. You should have just told me what you needed me to do."

"You told Bruce Wayne about me?" Milton questioned calmly.

"Yes, I did," Lex smirked. "Did that mess up your plan?"

"Not at all," Milton waved his hand slightly. Lex looked him in the eye. If he was lying there was no indication. His expression didn't change in the slightest. "You really have been a big help. More than you realize."

"Glad I could help," Lex said sarcastically as he looked down at the table in front of him.

"I was just a bit surprised you would do that. I thought it was Mercy Graves," Milton nodded.

"Mercy Graves is dead," Lex insisted.

"I thought so too, but there she was. She marched straight into my office. She wanted me to buy a flash drive off her that she supposedly stole from you," Milton explained.

Lex fixated his gaze on his eyes. He didn't see so much as a glimmer of a change in expression or inflection. "You are the best liar I ever met." Lex cocked his head to the side.

"What makes you so sure I am lying?" Milton asked with still not a trace of change in inflection or speech pattern.

"She told me you sent her." Lex narrowed his eyes as he let the accusations fly.

"You are mistaken," Milton assured Lex.

"No!" Lex shook his head. "She TOLD me she worked for you."

"Are you sure about that? Are you sure you didn't just guess she worked for me and she just went along with whatever name you said instead of telling you the truth?" Milton asked.

Lex paused and thought for a few moments trying to remember exactly how that conversation went. "Um, you actually could be right about that," Lex admitted.

"Was there anything important on that flash drive?" Milton asked.

"Yes, why?" Lex asked.

"She said she was going to sell it to Mr. Wayne. I didn't take that too seriously until he waltzed into my office," Milton informed Lex.

"Crap!" Lex stared at Milton with a dropped jaw and a wide eyed gaze. Lex gasped for air. "He is going to kill me."

"Really? What else could he possibly have learned about you that would piss him off more than he already was?" Milton asked.

"Well, you see..." Lex's operation Alfred backup plan in case Batman failed to cooperate immediately came to mind. He felt himself on the cusp of making another confession, but the vivid image of his tongue being cut from his mouth stopped him cold. "Nothing."

"Good boy. Your lawyer trained you well. Do you do other tricks too? Roll over, be dead," Milton started with a pity clap, then did a rolling motion with his arm.

"The expression is play dead," Lex corrected him.

"I doubt the bat is going to let you play," Milton declared.

"You are not funny." Lex shook his head as he glared at Milton. "Seriously, you are right. He is already pissed. What could possibly piss him off more?"

"When he comes for you, I hope you do a better job lying your way out of it then you are doing right now." Milton crossed his arms making it clear he wasn't buying it. "I just might be right about that too!"

"When I get out of here, you had better watch your back," Lex warned.

"Noted, underlined, highlighted." Milton nodded.

* * *

 **The police chief's office**

A postal worker wandered into the police chief's office carrying a piece of certified mail. "I need a signature for this one," he informed the chief of police. The police chief signed an electronic signature pad. Then he was passed an official envelope.

He opened the certified letter and read it. "Is this for real?" the chief asked.

"I just deliver the mail. I have no idea what it is," the postal worker explained before leaving.

The police chief made some phone calls to make sure what he read was legit. He went out and spoke to Lex's lawyer. "I can't believe it, but it looks like your client is getting a full presidential pardon. Cleared of all charges. We have no choice but to let him go," the chief explained.

"Oh, that is wonderful news," Victor explained glumly.

"You don't seem very happy about it," the police chief questioned.

"I really wanted to win this case. It would do wonders for my career," Victor exclaimed. The police chief hummed the tune to 'mission impossible.' Victor laughed. "Maybe."

The police chief let out a frustrated sigh. Then he opened the door to Lex's side of the chamber. "Mr. Luther, you are free to go. You have received a full presidential pardon," he explained as he undid Lex's handcuffs.

"Yes!" Lex jumped for joy.

"Now the real fun begins." Milton gave a small smile before leaving.

* * *

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Is Dr. Fine lying or telling the truth that Lex actually accidently gave Mercy his name and she went along with it?


	15. fun and games until

**Police Station**

The chief of police was sickened at the thought of Lex being simply let go. He unlocked a locker and pulled out a brown shopping bag that contained all the stuff Lex had when he was first arrested. Lex slipped into a bathroom and changed his clothes. His cell phone was in the bag too, but unfortunately for him the battery was dead. "I need to make a phone call," Lex insisted. The police chief shook his head side to side as he crossed his arms. He had to let him go, but there was no reason he had to be nice to him.

"I can give you a ride back to your place," Victor volunteered. Lex accepted and as they made their way to Victor's car, Lex looked around side to side looking for Dr. Fine, but he was nowhere to be found. If what Mercedes said about him was true, he could be half way across the world by now if he wanted to be.

As they made their way across the parking lot, Lex noticed the person impersonating Mercy Grave. "Lex? How did you escape?" Mercedes asked very calmly.

"I didn't. I got a full pardon, so that little recording of yours is now worthless." Lex gave a bit of a smirk.

Victor looked her over. "Nice! Is she available for your other business?" he whispered to Lex. Lex shot him a cold stare, which Victor knew all too well meant shut up.

"You couldn't handle the ride!" Mercedes raised a brow and half smiled at him. Victor loosened his tie.

Lex turned to Mercedes. "I find that very disturbing that you know exactly what that meant."

"You think there is any chance I didn't do my homework on you?" Mercedes asked.

Lex half smiled as a nervous laugh escaped his lips. "Give us some privacy," Lex demanded as he waved Victor off. "Wait for me in the car." Lex was annoyed at Victor's hesitation. "Go now," Lex demanded.

Victor put his hands up in a bit of a mock surrender. "Ok." He left them alone to talk and got in his car.

"Do we still have a deal?" Mercedes asked Lex.

"That depends. Dr. Fine told me something rather interesting. I am unsure if he told the truth. Did you really sell my flash drive to a certain billionaire?" Lex wasn't about to make the same mistake twice and supply a name for her again. Lex then whispered in her ear. "Or is he just trying to trick me into having you taken care of?"

"By taken care of, you mean having me killed, right?" Mercedes questioned rather calmly.

"You don't think I would get my own hands dirty do you?" Lex asked.

"Of course not." Mercedes smiled at Lex.

"Now look me in the eye and tell me you didn't share that flash drive with anyone," Lex insisted as he glared at her.

Mercedes looked Lex right in the eye. "One thing you have to understand, misinforming the enemy is one of my favorite tactics." Her expression remained calm.

"But everything on that drive was true." Lex's jaw dropped.

"Not anymore!" Mercedes smirked.

"You edited the files?" Lex questioned.

"Of course! Do you think Mr. Wayne will fall for the same trick twice?" Mercedes asked.

"What exactly did you change?" Lex asked.

"Doomsday was Dr. Fine's project, not yours," Mercedes said. Lex grinned as she mentioned that.

"You should have told me you were going to do that. I could have come up with some great ideas for edits," Lex told her. "Any others?"

"Does the name Lucy Lane ring any bells?" Mercedes asked.

Lex stopped and thought for a few moments. Of course he remembered Lucy Lane. She applied for a job at one of his companies about two months after the big battle in Metropolis. Lex was unimpressed with her resume, but because her sister Lois Lane was mentioned as a reference, he scheduled her for an interview he conducted personally. He didn't offer her the job, sighting that regrettably someone else was more qualified, but he did take Lucy out on a few dates. Lex contacted other companies to make sure nobody would hire her. He wanted to make her desperate for money. Then he offered her an out. At the time he was still trying to identify Superman. He pretended he was such a fan and he wanted a high quality picture of him, as Superman never stopped and talked to anyone, nor stuck around long enough for anyone to even take a decent picture of him. Even the monument statue made to him was actually a best guess based on less than perfect pictures. Superman definitely didn't pose for that. He offered her twenty five thousand dollars for just one excellent quality facial picture of Superman, that he could use with his facial recognition software, which she got successfully.

"According to the file he got, Lois Lane dated you behind her boyfriend's back and she sold you a high quality picture of Superman," Mercedes informed him.

"He does know I personally thanked Miss Lane for leading me right to him." Lex raised a brow and laughed.

"I just might have some flowers sent to her, with your name signed to it." Mercedes gave a small smile. "Something for Mr. Wayne to see."

Victor beeped the horn. "Come on Lex, I don't have all day," he called out.

"We will be in touch," Lex told Mercedes. Then he got in the car with Victor.

Victor drove up to Lex's mansion. The second Lex got out of the car, Victor speeded away. Lex gritted his teeth and huffed in annoyance as his lawyer didn't even bother to make sure Lex could get in his home.

Even though Lex was fairly confident, Mercedes deleted operation Alfred from the flash drive, Lex still feared retaliation from the bat. Lex's hand shook as he fidgeted with the keys to get into his home. He knew this would be one of the first places the Bat would look for him. He didn't want to go to his office for the same reason. He decided it was time to do something that wasn't so typical for him. He went inside briefly, staying only long enough to change out the battery in his cell phone and grab the keys to his car.

As much as he hated to admit it, he had Helena to thank for his renewed freedom. He drove to his Uncle's mansion which resided in a suburb on the outskirts of Metropolis, far enough away from the noise and chaos of the city. The homes around here were definitely snobs only, with each home sitting on at least a two acre plot of land. He drove through the gates of Luther Manor, admiring the two marble statues of lions on either side. The driveway was paved, not with standard greyish asphalt but with an ivory colored grounding. The house was huge, mostly white and very pristine. If Lionel lived in a place as dirty as he was, he would be swimming around in the sewers of Gotham City with Killer Crock.

He walked up the white marble walkway, both sides lined with flowers. Lex rang the doorbell. He hoped it wouldn't be Lionel to answer. He breathed a sigh of relief when the butler opened the door. Of course what was he thinking, Lionel was incapable of doing anything for himself, so of course the butler would answer for him.

"Um, is Helena home?" Lex couldn't believe he was actually asking for her. He used to dread seeing her at family events and now he was actively seeking her out.

"She is in the pool, around the back," the butler told him as he stepped out of the way to allow him to come in.

Lex made his way through the house on to the outside porch and to their Olympic sized swimming pool. Lex always thought of the pool as a fun experience involving slides, diving boards, and playing around in the water. Helena just swam one lap after another at a rapid rather forced pace. Lex grimaced at how she managed to just kill all the fun. Helena finally emerged from the water. Last time Lex saw her in a swim suit, she was just a kid. This time, Lex's jaw dropped as he found himself admiring her exquisite form. He reminded himself this was his cousin.

"Ah, um, I just wanted to celebrate getting out of jail, since you were a little bit of help." Lex kept his focus on her face and downplayed her role in helping him out of his predicament. Then he closed his eyes and looked away as he couldn't help but to notice her striking eyes and flawless complexion.

"And none of your friends were available," Helena reasoned.

"I don't have any friends," Lex uttered a painful harsh truth. Helena chuckled. Lex frowned and darted a cold stare at her. "Never mind." He turned around and started to march out.

Helena grabbed his arm. "Want to know something? Neither do I," Helena admitted.

Lex cocked his head to the side and looked at her a bit bewildered and confused. He always imagined that miss perfect had gaggles of friends. "You are kidding," Lex could barely believe his ears.

"No time for it." Helena shook her head.

"Want to go out and celebrate with me?" Lex asked.

"I would love to, but he won't allow it." Helena pointed to Lionel who was looking down on them from a balcony.

"Screw him! Let's go!" Lex rolled his eyes. Helena smiled at Lex and nodded. Lex informed Lionel that he and Helena would be running off for the day. If he had a problem with it, he could take it up with the bat! After she got dried off and changed, Helena took off with Lex in his car with not so much as a word to her adopted father.

He took Helena to the Metropolis Bay Park, an amusement and water park. The bright colors and beauty of everything definitely caught Helena's eye. Lex felt on edge as he felt overly noticed. Lex caught a glimpse of his reflection in a fun house mirror. Then it occurred to him. He looked so different from his publicity photos without his hair. Most people probably would not even notice him. More than likely, it was all in his head. Once this realization set in, he felt himself a bit more relaxed. Helena on the other hand, wasn't universally recognized, but many did recognize her as a contestant in the Olympics.

Helena persuaded Lex to go on a ride called blast off. Lex screamed as the ride shot them about fifty feet in the air seemingly instantaneously. He looked over at Helena so much wanting to hear her scream, but she didn't. She laughed instead. When they got off the ride, Helena looked to Lex, "That was awesome. Can we do that again?" she grinned.

"Maybe later. There is so much more to do," Lex responded. He certainly delivered as he took her on many more rides. As the hours passed Lex suggested lunch.

"Ok so what is healthy around here?" Helena asked.

"Nothing, it is all sugar laden, or deep fried. Try the fried pizza. It is amazing!" Lex got two helpings of it.

"Wow," Helena exclaimed as she took her first bite into that melty cheesy goodness. She couldn't help herself as she took a second bite. She noticed the slight spiciness of the pizza sauce. "Oh, damn, that is good."

Once they finished their pizza, Lex grabbed two servings of cotton candy. "Here is another little favorite of mine," he told her.

"Thank you for taking me here today," Helena told him as she picked at her cotton candy.

"You are welcome." Lex smiled as he ripped off another piece.

Helena waited for Lex to make some snide remark to her like he always did, but this time he didn't. The cotton candy seemed to have that magical ability to make Lex shut up, which Helena liked. "I really need to stock up on this stuff at home." Helena laughed as she tore off another piece.

"You like it that much? Maybe I will get you one of those machines for making it at home for Christmas," Lex suggested. He gave her a surprised look.

"Ok. Who are you and what did you do with the real Lex?" Helena asked.

"What do you mean?" Lex asked.

"You are never this nice to me," Helena explained.

"Um, I don't know what you are talking about." Lex laughed as he could not say that with a straight face. He knew she was right.

"This has been the most fun I have had since… Ever," Helena said.

"Yes, this place is wonderful. You should get your boyfriend to take you here," Lex stuffed his face with more cotton candy.

"I would have to get a boyfriend before I could do that." Helena frowned as she felt she just walked right into that one and she prepared herself for the insult she knew was coming.

"You look like that and you don't have a boyfriend? How is that even possible?" Lex asked.

"Well, you don't exactly…" Helena was about to say something about Lex not having a girlfriend either, but then realized what he said was a complement. "Yes, I never even had a real date before. This right now is the closest thing I ever had to a date," Helena told him.

"We are cousins," Lex quickly dismissed the idea that this was anything like a date.

"Legally, not by blood. I am adopted, remember," Helena reminded him. Lex raised a brow. "Of course if this was a real date, we would be kissing, and holding hands." Helena laughed as she spoke.

"My hands are all sticky from the cotton candy, so you wouldn't want to hold my hand now," Lex laughed but he reached out his hand toward hers.

"So are mine. Oh, yeah and of course we would actually like each other." Helena added with a laugh. Lex dropped his hand back to his side. She didn't notice. "Can we go on that?" Helena pointed up at the park's biggest and best roller coaster ride. This ride had plenty of sharp turns and sudden drops, even part of the ride took place in the dark. About a year and a half ago, this ride had been repainted in blues and reds and renamed the Superman ride. Ever since the rename, Lex had refused to go on it.

"You can if you want to, but I will pass." Lex continued to pick at his cotton candy.

"Will you wait for me?" Helena asked.

"Of course, after that, I think we will be leaving." Lex shrugged.

"Going home already?" Helena looked at the ground disappointed.

"Not yet, we are going to a football game," Lex told her.

"Awesome," Helena said just before leaving to get in line for the Superman ride.

Lex's phone started to vibrate. He checked it and saw a text message from Dr. Fine. Lex read the message.

'Interesting move with your press conference. Not what I expected from you at all.'

Lex wondered what press conference. Lex was about to fire off a message asking what are you talking about, but then he heard his father's voice in his head basically saying never admit you don't know something. So instead he opened google and searched for Lex Luther press conference. And much to his surprise one came up that evidently took place less than an hour ago. He played the clip on his smart phone.

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

Lois was watching the news feeling like she should be reporting on it. "Less than an hour ago, newly released from prison Lex Luther had this to say," a news caster announced then it went to a clip of Lex sitting at his desk in his office.

Just the sight of Lex made her feel sick to her stomach, but she watched it anyway  
"I was released from prison, due to a presidential pardon. The president knew the truth I was framed," Lex explained as looming in the background by unseen voices the question was asked 'by who?'

"I partnered up with Wayne Enterprise. With Bruce Wayne's stellar reputation, I thought this was a legitimate joint venture. I didn't realize how insidious he could be. He had weapons sold to terrorist organizations and managed to put the Lex Corps name on that. He had men burned and killed in the desert and effectively framed Superman for those murders. Mr. Wayne full well knew that Superman was framed, yet when experimentation on General Zod's body revealed a weakness to a particular element that likely was also shared by Superman, he tried to use the desert incident to persuade me to let him use that element again Superman. I refused and he stole it from me. I was really blindsided by what happened next. Ms. Lois Lane paid me a visit to the roof of my office building."

"I didn't visit you. I was abducted." Lois clenched her jaw as she shook her fist at the TV.

"She pointed out the bat signal reflecting in the sky. She told me Batman refused to give into her demands and he was currently being tortured across the bay. There was little doubt he would be dead by sunrise. She hoped she wouldn't have the same problem with me. She demanded I give her one million dollars or she would have me killed. I refused of course. Next thing I knew, she jumped off my roof. I tried to stop her. She obviously needed help. Superman saved her thank god."

"You lying bastard!" Lois shook her head as she cursed at the TV.

"He raced back up to me. He didn't even have to say it. It was written all over his face. She told him I actually pushed her off the roof. It was then I realized that I should have just given her the money. I assured him that I didn't do it and pleaded with him not to kill me. Luckily for me, he believed me. I even offered to pay them off. Superman was shocked and told me he would not accept any money from me. I told him what Lois had told me about Batman's life in danger. Of course Superman rushed over to save what he thought was a fellow hero. What Lois told me about Batman was all just a vicious lie. I just led him into a trap," Lex concluded.

"And what of the monster that was seen leaving your lab," the unseen interviewer asked.

"That was an unauthorized experiment. There will be a full internal investigation of all my staff," Lex assured them.

Lois couldn't believe how smooth and flawlessly Lex delivered all these lies. It was like he truly believed what he was saying. She hoped the public would not be so gullible. She knew Clark's memory was basically toast, so even more then the social backlash, her bigger fear was Clark would believe it and turn against both them.

* * *

 **Metropolis Bay Park**

Lex finished watching that same broadcast, well Helena was still in line for her ride. He didn't know what to make of this. He was furious this went on without his knowledge, and what was worse, he had a total lack of control over what this imposter said. Yet, if the general public believed his message, this could help repair his tarnished reputation.

His phone vibrated again as another message came through from Milton.

'Still think the bat is going to let you play dead?'

Lex closed his eyes. Milton definitely had a point. The imposter's lie was pretty damaging to both Bruce Wayne and Batman. Retaliation was nearly certain.

* * *

A/N

Thank you for the new reviews and to the new favorites and follows. As always this is all much appreciated.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Could Lex and Helena be a couple? How would Bruce react to that?


	16. Half Time

**Half Time**

* * *

 **Wayne Lake House**

As day began to give way to a night sky, Bruce and Diana exited the lake house intending to question Ms. Lane. Bruce began to pounder what he just read about Lois Lane. He found it all very hard to believe. She truly seemed in love when she interrupted him about to kill Superman. She was devastated by his loss, wasn't she? She was very upset by that cruel message Lex left on her answering machine where Lois led Lex right to Superman. "Do you remember that message that Lex left on Lois's answering machine?" Bruce asked Diana.

"Sort of, why?" Diana asked.

Bruce was about to answer the question, then he noticed the bat signal illuminating the night sky. "Duty calls." Bruce sighed as he realized questioning Ms. Lane must wait.

"Whatever it is, I am with you." Diana agreed with a nod. They raced off to the bat cave. Alfred waited with a jet and quickly briefed them on their mission.

* * *

 **Barry's home – Central City**

Clark, Kara and Barry were still sitting around Barry's living room. Barry turned on the TV to show the football game. This served as background noise as none of them were paying much attention to it. The two teams playing were Gotham and Central City. "What were you talking about when you said the worst that could happen was the destruction of the entire planet?" Barry asked Kara.

Kara was about to answer the question but then something on the TV caught their attention. "This isn't the half time show. We are really under attack here. Somebody call the police, call Batman," the announcer declared.

Harley stepped up behind the announcer and gave him a quick hit to the back of the head knocking him out. "Yes, Batsy we are expecting you," Harley declared as she twirled her pigtail and smiled. "Come party with us!" Then the cameras shifted focus to the joker showing his crazed smile. He cocked his gun.

"The game is in Gotham tonight, I am going," Barry said. Barry suited up as the Flash. "I know you want to avoid…" Barry was about to say Gotham, but Clark interrupted.

"I am with you," Clark declared. He remembered all too well that Barry previously suggested he avoid Gotham City, but all Clark felt compelled to do was to help people in danger. Clark still didn't realize he was Superman, so he didn't bother to change his clothes.

"I am with you too," Kara agreed.

"That is the Joker and Harley Quin. They are extremely dangerous. You should probably stay here," Barry looked right at Kara as he said that.

"I am going," Clark insisted as he didn't realize that was directed at Kara.

"Me too," Kara insisted.

"Sure, if you can keep up." Barry forced a smile at Kara. Secretly he hoped she couldn't because he feared for her safety.

Again, Clark didn't realize this was directed at Kara. "I will try not to fall too far behind." Clark rolled his eyes as he felt Barry was giving him a slight rub at the fact that Barry won their race. Kara nodded in agreement. The three of them arrived at Gotham Football stadium in less than a minute.

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

Lois was so sickened by Lex's interview that she turned the TV off a while ago. She went online and began to research every bit of Lex's claims. She knew that pretty much everything he said was a total lie, but to convince the world of it, she would need real proof. She wanted to make sure Lex was discredited as quickly as possible. The light from the bat signal that refracted off the windows caught her eye. She stepped out on the balcony, closing the sliding glass door behind her. She wondered what kind of trouble the bat signal warned of tonight.

She heard the door slide behind her again. Figuring it was either Alfred or Bruce, she didn't pay it much attention until she heard that all too familiar voice. "When the bat is a way, it is time to play," Lex said as he stepped up behind her.

Lois spun around quickly. She could feel the hairs on her back begin to stand on end. "Lex!" Lois frantically searched around the balcony for anything she could use as a weapon, but there was nothing here not even a chair. She stepped back. "How did you know where to find me," Lois asked.

"A little bat told me." Lex took a step toward her as she took a step back.

"Batman?" Lois questioned.

"Batman, Bruce Wayne, take your pick." Lex nodded.

"Are you saying Batman is Bruce Wayne?" Lois crossed her arms. Lex nodded with a bit of a smirk. "Why should I believe you?"

"Believe me, don't believe me, I don't really care," Lex yawned raising his hand in the air. Lois could see the top of a gun in the inside pocket of his jacket. She grabbed for it and quickly backed away.

"Get out of here or I will shoot," Lois threatened as she pointed the gun at him.

"Go ahead, shoot me. You know you want to." Lex egged her on.

Lois cocked the gun and took aim. Pulling the trigger would be so easy. She looked him in the eye feeling nothing but hate and contempt.

"Your boyfriend would love you for it!" Lex continued to encourage her.

"You really don't know him at all." Lois lowered the gun as she knew if she committed murder her relationship with Clark would be over. She felt something was wrong as she couldn't fathom why Lex would want to be shot at. Lex forcefully grabbed the gun right out of her hand. "The gun isn't loaded anyway is it? Why else would you want me to shoot you?" Lois asked as she glared at him.

"I wouldn't be so concerned about whether or not the gun is loaded. I would be more concerned about the fact that your finger prints are now all over it." Lex smiled at Lois as she stared at his glove covered hands. Lois looked on horrified.

Lex jumped off the balcony. Lois looked over the edge expecting to see him dead or seriously injured, instead he landed safely on his feet as he dashed off into the woods.

* * *

 **Gotham Football Stadium**

The Joker circled around a young lady named Brittany Taylor who was an up and coming Gotham City socialite and singer who was supposed to be preforming here tonight. Instead she was tied to a chair. Every exit was blocked with large numbers of men with guns. Much of the audience ducked down under seats around them. "So tell me, do we have any Brittany Taylor fans here tonight?" the Joker asked. Much of the audience applauded. "Let's play a little game. The rules are simple, I ask trivia questions. Someone from the audience answers them. You get them right you don't get shot!" The joker cocked his gun. "Who is our first volunteer?" The Joker looked around the entire stadium and almost everyone ducked down trying to hide.

"How disappointing, no true fans. At least you won't be missed." The Joker shook his head as he aimed his gun right for the girl's head. Brittany closed her eyes and started to cry. "Unless someone from our audience wants to take her place, this will be her last performance. She will be going out with a bang," the joker declared. Harley was the only one laughing at his joke.

Helena stood up. "Don't shoot her. I will play your trivia game." She put her hands up.

Lex grabbed Helena's leg. "Don't be a hero. Don't do this." Lex remained crouched down.

"Let go," Helena warned Lex as she shook free of his grip and then made her way toward the center court zig zagging her path as much as possible hoping to make herself a harder target.

"You misunderstood. You are too late for trivia." The Joker open fired at her. Helena closed her eyes fearing for her life. Kara got in the way as she caught the bullets and crumpled them to dust. Helena opened her eyes and saw Kara lean forward a bit. She feared this girl that suddenly got in the way actually got shot, but then Kara speeded toward the joker kicking up quite a bit of dirt behind her. She tore the gun from his grip. "This game is over. You lose," she declared as she broke the Joker's gun in half over her leg. She grabbed the Joker by the shirt and lifted him off the ground.

Meanwhile, Barry raced in and grabbed the chair Brittany Taylor was sitting in and rushed her to a safer part of the field before untying her. Clark cleared one of the entrance ways of armed men. Many of them tried to fight back but found their attacks useless. Some of them even unloaded all the bullets in there gun on him. That didn't stop Clark. One by one Clark grabbed and destroyed their weapons.

The men Clark successfully disarmed ran down toward the center court. Clark began to make his way toward another entrance. Lex decided to take advantage of the only entrance that was now cleared. Lex's jaw dropped as he couldn't help but notice Clark Kent. He gritted his teeth as Mercedes warning was now clear to him about leaving someone for dead. He raced to his car and drove off.

Harley got on the loud speaker. "Unhand him now Missy or I will order the men to open fire on the audience. Even Superman couldn't stop all of them," Harley announced. She had no idea Superman was actually there. She only knew him by reputation.

"He doesn't have to," Batman announced as he and Wonder Woman swung in on her golden lasso from a low flying jet. Batman swung in feet first effectively kicking two armed men down right away. As he landed two other men open fired on him. Batman's armor protected him from the blunt of the attack. Batman slammed another man in the gut, causing him to fall back and drop his weapon. The men made meager attempts to fight back, but they were no match for Batman.

"Ok!" Kara smirked as she tossed the Joker right at Harley. The joker's body slammed into her causing her to lose balance. As she fell, the Joker landed on top of her.

"If you wanted to be on top..." Harley grinned. The Joker just rolled his eyes. They both got up again quickly. Kara marched up toward one of the blocked entrances. The Joker's men rapidly fired gun shots. A few of them were smart enough to realize how useless these weapons were, so they retreated.

Harley tried to follow Kara, but Helena got in her way. Helena and Harley both proved to be very evenly matched opponents. Both were good at predicting the other's moves with dodges and blocks, so much so that the audience began to believe this was a staged fight and this was the actual half time show. They applauded when Helena managed to pin Harley. Harley pulled out a knife in her boot. Helena managed to knock the knife out of her hand. Harley flipped Helena off of her.

The Flash raced into another one of the blocked entrances. He moved so fast none of the guys could hit him. He quickly disarmed all of the Jokers goons by his exit.

Wonder Woman landed at another blocked entrance. She pulled out her sword. The men began to shoot at her. Wonder Woman spun her sword around with impressive speed and agility effectively blocking all the shots as the bullets sparked up against her sword. With a swift thrusting motion, her sword shattered the guns the men were holding one by one. They ran away.

Another low flying plane flew in dangling a long rope ladder. Harley and the joker jumped onto it then the plane ascended higher. As Batman watched the Joker and Harley making their getaway, he thought now would be a good time for Clark to remember he can fly. However, he also knew he never needed Superman's help before to stop the Joker, he would do this himself. He launched his grappling hook in the air. It caught the end of the rope latter and pulled him toward the jet. The Joker was the first to get secured in the plane. He saw Batman now climbing up. The Joker threw a knife down to Harley which almost hit her, but she caught it. She pouted at the Joker. "Cut the rope," he ordered.

Wonder Woman took off her tiara and threw it. It directly hit Harley's hand successfully causing her to drop the knife. The knife chinked against Batman's armor as it continued to spiral to the ground. Harley tighten her grip and tried to shake the rope latter so Batman would be forced to let go. Batman had a good grip and continued to climb. As he got up to her feet, Harley kicked him in the face. The joker pushed a button sending both Harley and Batman spiraling to the ground. Batman launched another grappling hook. It caught on the jet. Batman looked down seeing the rope bridge and Harley continue to fall as he went back up to the plane.

Wonder Woman gritted her teeth as she didn't actually want to see anyone die. She jumped down from the upper level entrance and managed to catch Harley mid fall. She felt the impact on her feet and legs as she hit the ground, but she was used to ignoring the pain.

Batman smashed the glass of the cockpit and forced his way into the Joker's jet. "Jason says hello." The Joker gave a smirk.

Batman was so angered that the Joker dared to use that name, but for now he had no intention of letting his anger get the better of him. He landed the jet safely inside the stadium. Batman forced the joker out of the jet. Wonder Woman tied up both Harley and the Joker with her lasso. By now, the Flash, Clark, and Kara had successfully disarmed the Joker's men and had them on the run.

"We make a pretty good team." The Flash high fived Clark and Kara. "Glad I insisted you come along."

Helena returned to her seat. She was thankful her purse had not been touched. She pulled out her cell phone, and noticed she received a text message. Lex messaged her saying that he wasn't going to hang around to get shot at. Helena called her own home and got the butler. "Could you please come and pick me up," She requested.

"Of course, where are you," the butler asked.

"Absolutely not!" Lionel grabbed the phone. "I didn't give you permission to run off with Lex today. If he left you stranded, that is your problem. You will have to figure this one out yourself. If you help her out, you are fired," he warned his butler.

Helena looked over at the dark knight and briefly entertained the idea of blackmailing Lionel, but she wanted to be better than that. She wouldn't stoop to Lex's level. "Fine, I will walk home if I have to," Helena sighed. She knew full well that most people would consider this way too far to walk, but she had run marathons before, so she felt she could do it.

"Better get home before it rains. It is supposed to downpour and get real cold tonight, so where your coat. Don't forget you have lunch with your mother tomorrow, so you will want to get a good night sleep for that too." Lionel attempted to sound like a good parent, Helena rolled her eyes as she listened. "Personally, I don't see why you should even bother. She gave you up. So obviously she didn't want you then, why would she want to see you now? On the plus side, you will totally make her day."

"How is that?" Helena wondered and then immediately regretted asking the question.

"She will see what a pathetic daughter she had and be so happy she gave you up," Lionel told her just before hanging up.

Helena let out a deep sigh. Her eyes began to glaze over. She felt like crying, but she forced herself not to. She had to pretend everything was perfect like she always did. It was times like these that she couldn't wait till she turned 18. She had already decided years ago that on her 18th birthday she would walk out of that house and never look back. Unfortunately, she still had about two years to go. She looked up and noticed Clark Kent. She remembered him well from when he interviewed her for the daily planet. They connected over the fact that they were both adopted. She had always believed her parents gave her up because they didn't want her. Clark admitted that he was adopted too and suggested that wasn't always the case and that she owed it to herself to find out. Helena loved the article Clark wrote about her and she was especially appreciative of the fact that he left certain things she said out of it. She managed to smile at the memory.

"Mr. Kent, hello." She ran up to Clark extended her hand. Clark shook her hand. "I took your advice. I am going to be meeting her tomorrow."

"Okay!" Clark gave an awkward smile as he tried to remember what she could possibly be talking about, but nothing came to mind. "You were very brave."

Helena stepped back. "Thanks, but you don't remember me, do you?"

"Don't take it personally. He doesn't remember anything really, very bad hit to the head I think," Kara explained as Clark shrugged. "Name is Kara, I'm his cousin," she pointed to Clark.

"Helena," she responded as they shook hands. "I came here with my cousin too, but he took off on me. Wouldn't be a problem except he was my ride."

"I would offer you a lift, but I don't think I have a car," Clark stated.

"Thanks anyway, but it isn't your problem." Helena forced a smile.

"If you need a ride, I can give you one," a random guy who was listening volunteered. He was totally checking out Helena.

"I got a Porsche," another interested guy offered.

"Can you trust these guys?" Kara asked playfully.

"About as far as I could throw him, but I am a black belt in Karate, I am sure I can handle it if there is a problem," Helena nodded with a grin.

"Never mind!" The guy who claimed to have a Porsche withdrew his offer.

"At this point, I would take a ride from the devil himself." Helena shook her head.

"Oh, is that who you were talking to on the phone?" Kara asked as she was completely clueless as to what the devil actually meant.

Helena shot Kara the weirdest look as she forced herself not to laugh. She was calling Lionel the devil, as she thought about that more and more, Helena decided she wasn't that far off the mark on that one. She nodded and started to laugh. "Actually he was my fath…" The thought of calling him father left a bitter taste in her mouth, so she quickly corrected herself. "Legal guardian."

"Why was he so mean?" Kara asked.

"I disobeyed him," Helena admitted as she forced a smile.

"So it is all about control, power?" Kara asked as she echoed what Milton told her earlier. She crossed her arms.

"In fairness to him, I probably deserved it," Helena nodded.

"To be told that your mother will be so happy she gave you up? No way did you deserve that." Clark shook his head in disgust. Helena's jaw dropped as she thought it almost impossible that Clark actually heard her conversation on the phone. "If you were my daughter, I would be so proud. The way you saved that girl's life."

"Is that even possible? That you are my father, that is." Helena looked Clark in the eye. She didn't dare say it, but she sincerely hoped not as she found him way too attractive to be appropriate for a father daughter relationship.

Clark shook his head side to side as he was about to verbalize an answer to Helena's question, but Kara interrupted. "Amnesia remember? He wouldn't know." Kara pointed to Clark.

Clark caught a glimpse of Batman approaching. "We have to go. NOW!" Clark told Kara.

"You go. I want to make sure my new friend gets home safely," Kara told him.

"I will be ok." Helena tried to be convincing. She couldn't help but smile at Kara calling her a 'friend.' She wasn't lying when she told Lex she didn't have any friends.

"I'll make you a promise, your friend will get home safely tonight" Batman declared as he got closer.

Just as Clark was about to dash off at top speed, Batman's words triggered another flashback. Batman held his arm up blocking his path. 'I'll make you a promise. Martha won't die tonight.' Clark looked confused not knowing what to make of this.

"Do you trust him," Helena asked.

"About as far as I could throw him." Kara repeated Helena's expression.

"Coming from you, I would take that as a compliment." Batman let out a small smile as he was pretty sure Kara could throw him off the planet if she wanted to.

* * *

a/n

If I can find out the names of the football teams for Gotham and Central City, I will probably edit those in later. I tried to google it and couldn't get a solid answer.

The rules of the site specifically say we are not allowed to use real people in the story, otherwise I would have picked an actual celebrity instead of making one up. I took the names of two real celebrities and put them together.

Thank you gotmoreissuesthanvogue for reviewing again. That officially makes this my most reviewed story.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. What kinds of things do you think Helena might have told Clark that Helena was glad he didn't put in his article?


	17. A Painful Truth

**Gotham Football Stadium**

Most of the audience didn't seem to realize how much danger they were really in as they gave a thunderous applause to what they thought was the half time show. Flash enjoyed the spotlight and actually took a bow, which made the audience applaud more. Kara used her x-ray vision to make sure Batman did not have kryptonite on him. Then she smiled simply enjoying the view. Clark nudged her a bit and mouthed 'stop that' to her as he could tell where she was looking. Kara rolled her eyes at Clark and laughed.

Helena was used to having an audience so she pretty much ignored it. She found the thought of revenge to be bitter sweet. She loved the image in her mind of Batman personally taking her home to Lionel, who would probably shit himself seeing the dark knight appear on his door step after what Lex had told him, yet at the same time she felt ashamed of herself for taking so much delight in such a vengeful thought. "Should I plan on leaving now or after the game?" Helena looked Batman in the eye as she asked.

"Your call." Batman smiled at her. "What is it going to be?"

"I would like to watch the rest of the game. Kara, would you like to join me?" Helena offered.

"That is so nice of you, but no thanks," Kara politely declined with an unconscious nod.

"If you change your mind, feel free." Helena couldn't help but notice that even though she said no, her nod of the head said 'yes.'

Clark felt confused by the images that flashed in his head. The previous images he got back in Central City so clearly labeled Batman as a serious threat to him, then he promised not to let Martha die. "Who is Martha?" Clark asked. Kara shrugged.

"She is your mother," Batman answered with a smirk as he was pretty sure his plan worked to deliberately remind him of the one positive thing he did.

"Thanks, I guess I owe you one for saving her," Clark admitted.

"You owe me nothing. It was my pleasure." Batman nodded.

Flash breathed a sigh of relief as it appeared Batman had no issues with his friend. He raced over and introduced himself. "They call me Flash. Honored to meet you."

"I'm Batman," Batman responded in his usual deep imposing voice.

"Your," Kara started to speak.

"We all knew that." Flash winked at Kara and then turned his attention back to Batman. Kara nodded and smiled briefly at Flash as she realized he stopped her from making herself look stupid again. Kara began to ponder some of the things Milton said to her earlier. The contradiction in what Milton told her as compared to what he told Batman was now obvious to her.

Clark used his x-ray vision to identify Batman. His jaw dropped a bit as he definitely recognized Bruce Wayne from there encounter in Las Vegas. Then Clark turned to Kara. "Can we go talk somewhere more private?" Clark requested.

"Yes," Batman quickly responded to that request knowing full well that was directed at Kara and not him, yet conveniently he ignored that fact.

Batman, Flash, Clark and Kara all left together. They ended up in a small memorial park. Batman shook his head at what became of this park. As a kid his parents took him here often for family picnics. They would feed the ducks and take pictures of the beautiful swans. As Batman looked around, nothing was as he remembered it. This park used to be the quintessential of romance. The mermaid statue over the fountain had been decapitated. What used to be pretty little white park benches were now covered with graffiti. The cute little foot bridge that crossed the brook that ducks used to play in no longer looked safe. Even the water itself that used to be clean and clear, now looked overgrown with algae and who knows what else.

"I am so confused. I really need to see that doctor friend of yours," Clark pleaded. He wasn't about to explain the visions he saw in his head with Batman standing beside him.

"I really don't think that is a good idea," Kara interrupted as she shook her head side to side as she frowned. "Having your memory isn't always a blessing. There may be good reasons you forgot everything," Kara forced herself not to cry as she remembered being in a space craft moving away from Krypton. She remembered seeing lava engulfing buildings and basically destroying everything and everyone she had ever known. "I wish I could forget," She stopped talking remembering they were not alone. She would rather be having this conversation with just Clark. Clark sensed her pain and reached out and hugged her.

"I know where you are coming from. We all have things in our lives that we could down right envy him for not remembering anything." Batman pointed to Clark. He vividly remembered some of the worst experiences of his life as he spoke. "But it is important to remember all of it. It is part of what makes us who we are."

"He is right. I need to know my own past. You said your doctor friend had a way of making that happen fast." Clark reminded Kara.

"Doctor Milton Fine?" Batman took a guess hoping he was right. "If she won't help, I can set up an appointment for you with him."

"Please Kal, no. You cannot trust him," Kara shook her head.

"You can trust me. Both of you can," Batman argued.

"Actually I meant Milton can't be trusted," Kara clarified then sheepishly admitted, "But I don't really trust you either."

"Because a guy you don't trust told you not to?" Batman questioned.

"Milton is a lying bastard! I get that. First he told him..." Kara pointed to Batman. "That it is such a good thing that Superman didn't kill him. Only to moments later tell me you should have killed him when you had the chance."

"Let me get this straight. According to Dr. Fine, it is not ok for Superman to kill him, but it is ok for me to do it? Yeah that doesn't make any sense." Clark shook his head at that.

"It really doesn't make any sense especially when you consider that..." Batman was about to tell Clark that he actually is Superman, but then he remembered Flash and Kara were here too so he decided not to reveal that. "Never mind, I will tell you later when we are alone."

"I trust Ba…" Clark began as Flash visibly shook his head no. "Flash and Kara completely." Flash gave him two thumbs up. "Whatever you have to say to me, you can say it in front of them."

"No," Batman shook his head. Then he considered the possibility that Dr. Fine didn't know Clark was Superman. He remembered the explanation had more to do with the repercussions of Superman killing him and not the simple fact that murder is wrong. If Dr. Fine had read the contents of that flash drive, he definitely knew both of their secret identities. "Would Dr. Fine be able to crack military grade encryption?" Batman asked Kara.

"Of course, he is totally designed to do that. Why?" Kara responded with a nod, a smile and a slight wave of the hand which implied not only could he do it, he could do it easily.

"Designed to do that? What?" Flash found her choice of words odd. "I think you mean trained." He attempted to correct her as he considered the possibility that English wasn't her primary language.

"Right, I mean trained to do that. Yes!" Kara looked down at the ground.

Batman noticed her sudden break in eye contact and wondered if she was hiding something. His eyes opened wide as a realization washed over him. Dr. Fine was so specific about how Clark should have killed him. He said incinerate. No normal person could have done that without special technology. There was no doubt about it, he knew. "Are you hiding something?" Batman asked Kara.

"I could ask you the same question. Are you hiding something? Did you really try to kill my cousin?" Kara crossed her arms.

"It isn't that simple," Batman retorted.

"Actually it is. You either did or you didn't," Flash interjected. Kara smiled mentally thanking him for his support.

"I was tricked into it," Batman admitted. Even though he felt very sorry, he was never the type to actually apologize for anything.

"So Milton tricked you into it?" Kara concluded much to her chagrin. "Why am I not surprised?"

"No, it was Lex. Wait! Are you saying Lex is right about Dr. Fine?" Batman questioned as he for the first time seriously considered the possibility that Lex was telling the truth about being tricked himself.

"You told Milton that Lex believed he planned to kill him, am I right?" Kara asked. She knew she was right because she overheard the entire conversation when she was out on the balcony, so Kara answered with a nod, not even waiting for a response. "Probably."

"Are you serious?" Clark's eyes opened wide and his jaw dropped. "If that is true, we have to stop him."

"How can I help?" Batman questioned. Even though he was starting to consider the possibility that Lex was telling the truth, he found himself agreeing with Ms. Lane that it didn't matter. Lex really did go too far with allowing innocent people to be killed. Of course Lex's plan for Alfred infuriated him to no end even though that was never carried out. With everything Batman uncovered about Lex, he was thinking just the opposite, how he could help kill him, but he was smart enough not to clarify as he knew that would not go over very well with Clark.

"If he is a murderer, why did you want to take me to him in the first place?" Clark questioned throwing his hands in the air.

"No matter what anybody else said about him, I trusted him right up until he actually advocated murder! When Milton talked to you, do you think he actually knew you were Batman?" Kara asked shifting her gaze back to him.

"I doubt it. He was a bit too free with the insults. Made me want to pound him!" Batman slammed his fist into his other hand. He found Kara's last statement very disturbing as he knew he only talked to Dr. Fine once and he did it as Bruce Wayne, not Batman. His expression hardened. He did his best to maintain a poker face.

"It is a good thing you didn't," Kara let out a nervous laugh yet she still maintained strong eye contact.

"Yeah, he probably would have sued you if you did that," Flash joked. Batman grimaced at him. Kara let out another nervous laugh.

"I think you should take Helena up on her offer to watch the rest of the game with her," Clark told Kara.

"Yeah, you can check out all the cute football players." Flash laughed and smiled at Kara.

Clark rolled his eyes. "I just thought it would be great if you made a new friend." Clark nodded.

"Yeah, that too. You probably don't know anything about football. Just tell her that and let her teach you all about. You will have made a new friend before you know it." Flash smiled at her.

"Just go, have a good time." Clark tried to encourage her.

"Sure, I get it!" Kara winked at Clark as she caught on quickly that Clark really wanted to find out what Batman wouldn't say in front of her. "I will go. Should I meet up with you later in Central City?"

"No, I am heading for Smallville after this," Clark told her. "I just have a promise to keep to a beautiful young lady. I promised Lana I would visit my mom today."

"Ok," Kara nodded and then raced back toward the football stadium.

Clark used his ex-ray vision and checked the area to make sure Kara was way out of earshot. "Set up an appointment with Dr. Fine, please," Clark politely requested.

"What if Kara is right about him," Batman answered.

"Then I need to stop him from killing anyone," Clark insisted with a nod.

"I hope Dr. Fine really can help you get your memory back fast." Batman bowed his head down shaking it vividly. He couldn't believe Clark really wanted to protect Lex after everything he had done. He was so sure that once Clark got his memory back, he would come to his senses. "Go see your mother. Be sure to ask her about Lex Luthor. I think she will clear up most of your confusion." Batman was confident Mrs. Kent would set the record straight.

* * *

A/N I would like to say thank you to the person who added this story to favorites and follows since the last update.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Do you think Batman should trust Milton to help Clark or should he listen to Kara?


	18. spend the night at your house

**Lex's Mansion**

Since Lex knew Batman was tied up with whatever that was at the football stadium back in Gotham City, he figured he was free and clear to return home. He found a red envelope left on his door way. He slipped a glove over his hand before picking it up. Sure enough his name was written right on it in beautiful black calligraphy handwriting. He knew no one that wrote like this. He carefully opened up the envelope. He pulled out a black slip of paper. In the same beautiful calligraphy handwriting with a crimson colored ink was a brief note. Call me! I have something for you. 555-968-3323. Mercedes.

His phone buzzed with an incoming text message. At first he rolled his eyes expecting it to be another annoying message from Dr. Fine or some other personal business he didn't wish to be bothered with. After checking anyway, Lex realized Helena survived the half-time game and she wanted to spend the night at his house. He responded with a simple, I guess, but I can't pick you up. Then he added an emoji with a tongue sticking out. She responded back with a simple thanks, I will be there sometime after the game.

Lex ignored Helena's response. He happily dialed Mercedes number. Of course, Lex intended to save her number, but he also wanted to memorize it, so he looked at the letters next to the number and began to form words. His smile disappeared as he found this one too easy and the words he formed angered him. He began to wonder if this was even her number at all. "Great," he mumbled to himself, as he listened to the recorded message. The voice matched what he knew to be Mercedes, but she gave no name, only a dead pan leave your message after the beep. "So tell me, did you choose that phone number? Or was it randomly assigned to you? Whatever you got for me, it better be good!" Lex hung up. Lex made sure to add her number to his contacts.

About an hour later, Lex received a call from her. "It is about time!" Lex answered as he picked up the phone.

"You got my note, I see." Mercedes went straight for business. "Like I said I have something for you. When would be a good time to drop it off?"

"Right now, I am home," Lex said.

"Be right there," Mercedes declared. Only moments later, the doorbell rang. Lex knew it had to be her because he even heard the ring over the phone. None of his staff was working now, so Lex had to answer the door himself. "It sure is dark here," Mercedes couldn't help but to notice the lack of lights on. Lex led her down the hall into the study.

"I don't want anybody to realize I am home," Lex commented. Lex put his arm around her.

"This is strictly business." Mercedes stepped away from him.

"Oh too bad," Lex scowled. He pulled out a bottle of scotch and two wine glasses.

"None for me, thanks." Mercedes waved her hand slightly over the glass.

"Ok, more for me then." Lex forced a smile. He looked her in the eye. "What are you an accident victim? Hired gun?" Normally when Lex asked lots of questions he could read small changes in facial expressions that would unintentionally give away the truth, but Mercedes expression didn't change in the slightest. She had an ice cold stare in her eyes and a small smile, not showing much of her teeth.

"What is with all the questions?" Mercedes asked.

"I need to know who you really work for. Mercy Graves isn't the only person he had impersonated. He had me impersonated too and gave a very damaging press conference. Can you help me?" Lex requested.

"I think I saw that press conference. You mean that wasn't you?" Mercedes pushed her hair back out of her face.

"Are you sure you want this to be just business?" Lex raised a brow and smiled. She crossed her arms and took a step back. Lex just rolled his eyes at her. "What did you want to see me about? This had better be good or you are fired."

"Fired because I won't sleep with you. Sounds like a sexual harassment suit to me." Mercedes raised a brow.

Lex laughed. "I literally got away with murder. You think a harassment suit would stand up in court?" He shook his head.

"Of course not. It was just a joke." She opened up a box to reveal a glowing red rock. "This rock is exactly like the green one you acquired from India. Just a different color pigmentation, but otherwise it does exactly the same thing to anyone from Krypton," she closed the box and passed it off to Lex. Many questions flooded Lex's head. Where did she get this? How does she know this is the same as the green rock? Before he could ask any questions, she added "Try not to let Batman steal it from you this time."

"You think I let Batman steal it from me." Lex raised his voice and tossed his hands in the air as his jaw dropped.

"No!" Mercedes shook her head side to side. "I don't think you did. I know you did." Mercedes looked in the direction of the door. "Speak of the devil! You have other company."

"What are you talking about?" As Lex asked that question, the doorbell rang. Lex shook his head at that one. "Wait here, I will get rid of whoever that is."

Lex looked through the window and notice Helena. He breathed a sigh of relief. He sprinted up to the door and opened it quickly. He was about to welcome her to his home but then he noticed Batman standing behind her. His eyes opened wide and his hair stood on end. His hand covered his mouth. Helena's eyes met Lex. She could see his fear. "You look like you have seen a ghost."

"Worse," Lex said as he pointed at Batman, who stood behind her. Batman softly pounded one hand into the other as he glared at Lex.

Batman briefly imagined beating Lex to a bloody pulp. This thought brought on a gleeful smirk which erased quickly when he imagined Helena's frightened reaction to his blatant brutality. "I swear that press conference wasn't me." Lex's hand shook as he spoke.

"What press conference?" Helena asked exactly what Batman was thinking as neither of them had seen that yet.

"I will catch you later." Batman shook his fist. He made up his mind that he wasn't going to do anything to him in front of Helena.

Lex grabbed Helena's arm and pulled her into the house. Then he shut the door quickly and locked three different dead bolts, not that that would actually keep him out. "I forgot you were coming. I have a guest in the study. I will get rid of her as soon as possible. How about you go upstairs and settle in the guest room? We can stay up late, watch movies and eat junk food, ok?" Lex asked her. Helena nodded as she raced up the stairs. Lex returned to the study to realize Mercedes was gone. She didn't wait like he told her to. The red rock was still here. Lex locked that up in a safe in the room before rejoining Helena upstairs.

* * *

I know it has been a while since I last updated. I hope you all enjoy.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Do you agree with Mercedes that Lex basically let Batman steal the Kryptonite? Any guesses on what words Lex came up with to memorize that phone number.


	19. Right Side of Wrong

**Lex's home**

Lex joined Helena upstairs. "Why did you bring that man to my house?" Lex demanded to know.

"Batman?" Helena looked at him. "I thought he was a friend of yours. Didn't he visit you in prison and all?"

Lex felt a horrible knot in his stomach as nothing could be further from the truth. "Don't you ever bring that man to my home again," Lex demanded with an angry glare. He remembered what Mercedes said. 'Speak of the devil' just before he showed up and of course they were talking about Batman. How did she know who was at the door? They couldn't see from his study, nor were there any security cameras on. He knew he was pissed Mercedes left without being dismissed, but for now he was taking it out on Helena.

"Ok, ok. I don't get what you are so upset about. I will probably never see him again anyway. I probably should have had him take me home. Could you imagine Lionel's reaction after what you told him." Helena couldn't help but smirk and laugh at that. "He could never be sure. Did I spill the beans on him or didn't I."

Lex's eyes lit up. He recognized that smirk and believed he might have an opening to appeal to Helena's darker side. "Did you?" Lex raised a brow.

"No!" Helena shook her head.

"I don't see why not," Lex pouted at her.

"Lex, please, I don't want to actually get him killed," Helena said.

"You don't know that for sure. You can just give him information. What he does or doesn't do with that information isn't your fault. You would be blameless." Lex gently tapped the end of Helena's nose.

"Oh, if I told, Lionel would blame me. Then he would have me tossed into a wood chipper," Helena explained.

"Nah that would be a complete waste. He would have you shipped off to some third world country and sold as a sex slave. As beautiful as you are, he would get top dollar." Lex smirked trying to keep a straight face. "I think that is what he is planning on doing if you don't bring home the gold in the Olympics."

"Oh? How exactly would he plan on getting me to be submissive?" Helena asked.

"What do you mean?" Lex asked.

"If a guy I don't want gets too frisky with me, he is getting a knee to the groin," Helena explained.

"Charming as always!" Lex's hands formed a cup over his private parts. Helena chuckled. "Actually you would be drugged and tied up most of the time."

Helena realized Lex wasn't laughing. "Are you actually serious? He would really do that?"

"Yeah, what do you think happened to that cute little secretary that used to work for him? Eve, I think her name was." Lex nodded.

"She moved to National City," Helena shook her head.

"That is what you think." Lex smirked at her.

"I will just have to check up on her. If that is true, he is going to jail." Helena vowed.

Lex laughed. "Do I need to remind you how easily he got me off of a very serious charge? He got away with it and he will continue to get away with it, until someone like the bat gets wind of it! I promised him I wouldn't tell, but you didn't." Lex looked her in the eye.

"Batman doesn't give a damn about me. He wouldn't listen to me. The only reason he even gave me a ride tonight was because he promised my friend Kara he would," Helena explained.

"I thought you told me you didn't have any friends." Lex glared at her.

"I just met her tonight." Helena smiled happy that she made a new friend.

"Oh, how wonderful for you." Lex gritted his teeth. He actually managed to bond with Helena over a mutual lack of friends, so he disliked her making a new friend so quickly.

Helena's cell phone rang. She glanced at it and didn't recognize the number, but she answered it anyway. "Hello?" As Helena listened to the reply her smile widened.

Lex didn't really care who was on the phone. They were having a private conversation. He wished she would just ignore the call and return the call later. Although he wasn't really trying to eavesdrop several things Helena said caught his attention. She credited Lex for showing her the best day of her life despite almost getting shot. Of course when Helena started to talk about Kara, he pretty much tuned out with disinterest until she mentioned that Kara was Clark Kent's cousin.

"That was Selina Kyle," Helena announced after getting off the phone.

"Yeah, whatever, tell me all about this new friend of yours. Kara, I would really like to meet her." He rubbed his hands together. She might be an easy target to get to Clark Kent now that he knew he was back.

* * *

 **Wayne Manor**

Lois only allowed herself to be briefly shaken up by the experience of having Lex Luther visit her at Wayne manner. She did not believe his claim one single bit that Bruce told him where to find her. She knew they were watched when she left her place, so that is probably where the information came from, not Bruce. She had no intention of even asking him about it. Instead she immediately started typing up her next story to refute the claims Lex made at his press conference.

Bruce and Diana returned to his mansion. This time they were going to question Lois Lane. "Mr. Wayne, glad you are here. I would like to ask you a few questions." Lois casually looked up, then returned to her typing.

"You are not the only one with questions." Bruce raised his voice and crossed his arms. Bruce's tone caught Lois's attention.

"Is something wrong?" She looked up at him and couldn't help notice his brooding expression.

"You tell me." Bruce nodded.

"I got this." Diana motioned to Bruce before she swung her lasso and caught Lois in the rope. "We will be asking the questions." Diana insisted.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lois asked feeling shocked. In an instant she felt all of her suspicions about Bruce may have been well founded. She was tempted to scream for Clark, but god only knows where he was now.

"What was in the letter from the Metropolis Auction House?" Diana asked.

"I don't see how that is any of your business," Lois responded. The lasso did force her to tell the truth and this was certainly true.

"What was in the letter from the Metropolis Auction House," Bruce demanded to know. He pulled his fist back.

"No need for that. The rope forces people to tell the truth." Diana blocked him from lashing out.

"It was a check for fifty thousand dollars," Lois answered the question. Diana's jaw dropped as she and Bruce gazed at each other. They both shook their heads in disapproval.

"Why did they send you a check?" Diana asked.

"I don't know," Lois answered.

"Are you sure this thing forces her to tell the truth?" Bruce asked.

"I really don't know." Lois tried to struggle from the rope.

"Did you date Lex Luther behind your boyfriend's back?" Bruce asked.

"Oh my god, no! How could you even think that? I wouldn't have anything to do with that man." Lois crinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue slightly looking like she just tasted something nasty. "I love Clark. I would never cheat on him with anyone. Especially not Lex."

"You will now forget we asked you any questions," Diana stated just before removing the lasso.

Lois stood idle for around five seconds. "Mr. Wayne, glad you are here. I would like to ask you a few questions. I am writing an article about Lex's press conference. Truth is I think I already know the answers to these questions, but I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask. Is there any truth to Lex's claim that you and he had a joint venture of any kind?"

"Lex suggested it at a party I went to at his house, but that never happened," As Bruce spoke, Lois expanded on the simple no she had written in to include the new detail that Lex actually suggested it at one time.

"Then it would also be untrue that you sold weapons to terrorists under the Lex corps name?" Lois asked her next question.

"Correct, never happened," Bruce confirmed.

"This next one is just ridiculous. Did you steal an element from Lex Corps to be used against Superman?" Lois asked.

Bruce paused for a moment and looked over at his wine glass. "No," he nodded and averted his eyes and filled his glass with Scotch. If Diana's rope really did force the truth, he was very glad she wasn't using it on him now.

"Didn't think so." Lois clicked save on her document and closed up her lap top. "Now that the trial is canceled, I think I can go back to work."

* * *

 **Arkham**

Kara wanted to catch Milton before Batman did. The previous night she tried to find him in all the places she knew of, but had no luck. Even though Milton asked her not to return to Arkham, Kara was pretty sure that is where he was after checking Milton's calendar.

As Kara walked down the halls of Arkham, she heard screaming coming from Milton Fine's office which sounded to her like someone was being tortured. She rushed right in, and breathed a sigh of relief at the realization that nothing was going on. She found a young man, probably in his late teens standing over a monitor looking at a video clip of someone being tortured.

"What are you watching," Kara asked as she entered Dr. Fine's office.

"A beautiful girl." He quickly closed the video clip and turned off the monitor. Then he looked her in the eye. He had spiked up slick black hair, and one of the most handsome faces she had ever seen. He wore a brown leather jacket, a simple t-shirt and a pair of slightly warn jeans. Kara gasped as her gaze met his. She knew plenty of good looking young men back home. In her opinion, he was by far the best looking young man she had ever met. She could barely manage to take her eyes off him.

"What are you doing here?" He gave her a stern look as he crossed his arms.

"Um..." Kara twirled her hair as she admired his striking eyes.

"Well, what do you want?" He slightly changed his question. His impatience with her was evident.

Kara licked her lips as she imagined slipping that leather jacket off of him and having his warm arms around her and kissing those amazing lips. No doubt about it, she knew exactly what she wanted. Now if she could only remember what she came in for.

"Well, weren't you told not to come back here anymore?" he asked.

"Actually I was looking for Dr. Fine. Have you seen him?" Kara imagined Kal scolding her for doing it, but she couldn't resist. She looked him over with her x-ray vision. She briefly frowned as she came to a disappointing revelation. Then she laughed. "Oh, you fooled me. What is with the new look?"

"How did you know?" the young man asked.

"Back home, you may have been able to trick me pretty easily, but here, I can see right through you. I mean that literally. It is a dead giveaway. Please change it back," Kara pleaded.

"You don't like it." The young man studied her expression, unsure of what to make of it.

"I didn't say I didn't like it! The problem is it is way too…" Kara paused as she found this hard to admit. "Sexy."

"Sexy? Really? And?" The young man smiled at Kara.

"You are not a toy for my personal amusement." Kara looked him in the eye, then shifted her gaze to the floor. "I can't be thinking of you like that. It is wrong."

"Why? Because the high council said so?" The young man closed the distance between the two of them and then gently caressed the side of her face. She looked up at him as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers. He slid his hand around her back massaging against her soft skin as he pulled her in closer. His lips were smooth as he kissed her full on the mouth passionately. His kisses ignited her desires. For an instant, she forgot all about what he was and simply allowed herself to get lost in fantasy as she kissed him back. He proved to be an incredible kisser. She had no idea he was even capable of this kind of passion.

He suddenly stopped kissing her. "We have company," he told Kara. She turned around and saw Bruce Wayne standing there. The young man reached around her waist from the back and pulled her in close. "What can we do for you?" He smiled at Bruce. Kara's cheeks turned brighter and pinker. She was definitely embarrassed.

Bruce's jaw dropped as he definitely recognized the young man who stood before him. "Jason," he called out.

"Did Helena make it home last night?" Kara still blushed from embarrassment.

"Actually, she asked to be dropped off at her cousin Lex Luther's house." Bruce gave a curt answer.

"Lex Luther? Somebody should do something about that son of a bitch." Jason looked Bruce in the eye.

"Somebody will. Having you back is too good to be true." Bruce nodded as he wondered if this was really Jason. He was pretty sure someone impersonated Lex and Kara. Would they impersonate Jason too? One problem at a time. He came here to get Dr. Fine's help in helping Clark with his memory. "Have either of you seen Dr. Fine?"

"No, I haven't seen him." Kara looked down at the floor. "I tried to find him last night, but he never returned home. I was worried so I looked for him here."

"You were worried about him. That is sweet." Jason kissed her on her cheek.

"I was worried." Kara repeated without really clarifying exactly what she was worried about.

"Isn't she great?" Jason nodded to Bruce.

"Is she your girlfriend?" Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Actually, we just met." Jason looked Bruce right in the eye.

"What?" Kara narrowed her eyes and turned to Jason.

"That is way too friendly for just met." Bruce shook his head.

"Excuse me." Kara blushed and gently pulled herself free from Jason's grip. She took a seat on the couch and hugged a throw pillow.

"I would already be sleeping with her too, if you didn't interrupt," Jason told Bruce. Bruce just shook his head. "Can the holier than thou attitude. You have had more than your fair share of one night stands. Let's see there is Dr. Meridian Chase, Victoria Vale, Selina Kyle, Talia al Ghul and Lois Lane."

"Where are you getting your information from? There was never anything going on between me and Lois Lane," Bruce scoffed at that one.

"I just know what I see in the paper," Jason shrugged. "Lois Lane was seen leaving her home with an overnight bag in the company of billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. They even included a picture." Jason opened up the newspaper to the gossip page and showed him.

"Oh no, I didn't know someone actually took a picture." Bruce imagined Clark seeing this article. "The paper is dead wrong on this one."

"Is Lois Lane Kal's girlfriend?" Kara put the pillow down.

"Yes," Bruce and Jason both answered at the same time.

"How did you know that?" Bruce asked.

"He pretty much ripped the phone out of my hand as soon as you mentioned her. Of course she must be important to him," Kara answered.

"I was actually asking him not you." Bruce pointed to Jason.

"I have my sources." Jason failed to answer the question.

"Answer the question." Bruce raised his voice.

"Make me!" Jason crossed his arms and stared at Bruce.

"You really want to fight me over this? Are you that eager to get your ass kicked?" Bruce asked.

"Go ahead and try it!" Jason uncrossed his arms. Bruce looked him in the eye as he studied his facial expression. Jason showed no sign of fear or anger, just a slight smile.

"No," Kara screamed. She jumped up from the couch and positioned herself right between the two of them. The newspaper blew right off the desk. Bruce realized she definitely had her cousin's speed.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank everyone who put this story on favorites and/or follows. The title of this chapter came from an old Death Leopard Song.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Do you think Lex is lying or telling the truth about Lionel's plans? Who is Kara really trying to protect and what was she actually worried about?


	20. Back to normal

**Arkham Asylum – Dr. Fine's office**

Bruce raised his fists and threw a punch in Jason's direction. Kara caught his fist. She pushed him back against a wall effectively pinning him. "I can't let you do that," Kara insisted. Bruce struggled to try to free himself from her grip. His usual karate escape maneuvers would have worked if Kara was a normal girl, but he found her hold unbreakable.

Bruce glared at Kara. "Looks like I need that little green rock to deal with you," Bruce mumbled to himself.

"Milton is right about you." Kara loosened her grip on Bruce. She looked down at the floor.

"Looks like you learned your lesson. Now, just step out of the way." Jason commanded.

"Please just don't fight," Kara pleaded with Bruce as she finally released her grip completely.

"You are wasting your time, asking nicely doesn't work with him," Jason calmly stated as he pointed a finger at Bruce.

Bruce glared at Jason. This reminded him so much of what Dr. Fine had told Kara about him. He truly felt like beating the crap out of this Jason imposter. Normally Bruce was better at controlling his temper, but when Jason's memory was disrespected, he often would lose control. "That is pretty hypocritical, don't you think? Asking nicely sure as hell doesn't work with you either."

"He's got you there." Kara nodded with a laugh.

"I might not know who you are yet, but I know you are not really Jason. You are nothing like him. Don't try to impersonate someone you don't know," Bruce warned.

"I am not trying to impersonate anybody. I never said my name was Jason. You did. I don't even know my name. To tell the truth, I don't remember much of anything, just images, flashes of things really. Dr. Fine is the one to go to for curing amnesia. I am hoping he can help me," Jason admitted.

Initially, Bruce wanted to dismiss this explanation as completely ridiculous, but the fact was he was here for the exact same reason on behalf of Clark Kent. Was someone somehow raising the dead with the side effect of amnesia? First Clark, then Jason. He wasn't fully convinced this was actually true, but he would definitely investigate later. "Oh!" Bruce crossed his arms not knowing what to say.

"What?" Kara's mouth gaped open and her eyes opened wider. She was about to say something more, but then the door swung open and Dr. Fine walked in. She looked at Jason then back at Dr. Fine.

Dr. Fine put down a small brief case next to his desk. "What is going on in here?" Dr. Fine asked.

"When I came in, your intern was making out with your patient," Bruce explained with crossed arms and a stern look. Bruce looked squarely at Dr. Fine. He wanted to see if he would admit he lied about Kara being his intern or if he could get any kind of reaction out of him at all.

"I am not really an intern. He made that up," Kara admitted with a nervous laugh as her cheeks turned slightly pink again. Jason just shrugged as if to ask 'what is your point?'

"Would you rather I tell him why you are really here," Dr. Fine questioned Kara. Kara shook her head side to side.

"I don't really care why. That isn't what I came here about," Bruce dismissed this. "I actually wanted to see you because a friend of mine wants an appointment with you."

"Ok then, what did you want to see me about?" Milton asked. "I find when people say 'friend,' they usually mean themselves." Milton pulled out a mini appointment book.

"No, not me." Bruce rolled his eyes.

"Ok, I will play along. What is this friend's issue?" Milton asked with his usual very even tone.

"Same as him, actually." Bruce pointed to Jason.

"Nature calls." Jason made a hasty exit as he left slamming the door behind him. Bruce gritted his teeth. He wanted to follow Jason, but he knew his real business was with Dr. Fine. Kara never heard that expression before, so she had no idea what it meant. She hated being called a dumb blond so she wasn't going to ask. She decided she would ask Barry later.

"Amnesia, yes, I can definitely help your friend with that." Milton opened up his mini appointment book. "What is this so called friend's name?"

"Clark Kent." Bruce gritted his teeth.

"Oh." Milton nodded. "I am very much looking forward to working with him. When?" Milton began to thumb through the book.

"Tomorrow, as early as possible," Bruce said.

"Ok, midnight than." Milton grabbed a pen from the cup full of pens on his desk.

"No! Try 8 maybe 9 in the morning." Bruce eyed the pen realizing he grabbed the very one Bruce left here from his previous visit.

"Sure whatever works for your friend, if he really is your friend." Milton wrote in his book. He could see why Lex didn't like this guy. He is annoying to the extreme.

* * *

 **Daily Planet Perry's Office**

Perry stood behind his huge oak desk. Steve, Cat, Jenny and several others gathered around Perry's desk waiting for Perry to calm down. "You were there and you didn't even get her name!" Perry slammed down the morning edition of the Daily Planet which featured a picture of Kara holding up the Joker. The headline read 'Pretty Blond Humiliates Gotham's Joker' by Steve Lombard.

"None of them stuck around for questioning." Steve explained as he took a step back. Jenny placed a comforting hand on his back as she shot him a sympathetic look.

"I want stories not excuses." Perry shook his fist. Cat snickered quietly.

"Good morning!" Lois practically sung as she sauntered into Perry's office. She smiled showing off her pearly whites. She found something so comforting about returning to a sense of normalcy.

"One of those kinds of evenings?" Cat lifted her nose in the air and fixated her smirk at Lois.

"No, I am just glad to be back." Lois rolled her eyes at Cat. She found Cat unbelievable. As far as anyone around here knew, Clark was still dead. Did Cat really believe Lois would be with another man so soon after losing Clark?

"Ignore her. It is just petty jealousy." Jenny put her arm around Lois in a consoling way. Lois was going to say more to Cat, but decided Jenny was right, this was just not worth it.

"Getting back to business. Given strong accusations were made against our star reporter, the people will be expecting a response from the planet. Lois, I trust you can handle that one?" Perry asked.

"Already on that Chief." Lois waved her hand in the air. "Anything else?"

"If you could get a few comments from Bruce Wayne too, that would be great," Perry added.

"Already done." Lois nodded and put her thumbs up.

"Excellent, I knew I could count on you." Perry clapped, then his gaze shifted to Steve and his expression became more of a scowl. Perry didn't even have to say it. Steve recognized that disappointed look. Steve bowed his head down and furrowed his brow. Jenny yet again patted him on the back.

"You already got the comments from Mr. Wayne. I bet it made great pillow talk." Cat snickered and gave Lois a small nudge.

Lois glared at Cat without even dignifying that with a response. "Petty jealousy." Jenny reminded Lois with a pat on the back.

* * *

 **Kent Farm**

Martha Kent looked out her window. According to Lana, Clark should be trying again to connect with her today. She was on her twelfth cup of coffee. If he showed up, she was definitely going to be awake this time. She looked out her window seeing a very familiar blur. She rushed on to the porch to greet him. She hugged him tightly. Even though Clark had no memory of this woman, he could feel the warmth and love radiating from her. He was happy to know he had a loving mother. "May I come in?" Clark asked.

Martha knew his memory had not returned. The simple fact that he even needed to ask that question proved that. "Never ask me that again. You are always welcome here," Martha stated with a laugh finally managing to let go. Martha sat him down to a good meal and they talked. Looking around the house helped to stir up many old memories from Clark's childhood. They had a nice chat that lasted a few hours but only about Clark's childhood. She didn't mention anything about him being an alien or a hero. First and foremost, Clark was her son. That is what mattered most to her. "Oh, I almost forgot, Bruce Wayne wanted me to have you give him a call if I heard from you," Martha said.

"Oh, I already spoke to him." Clark nodded.

"Oh!" Martha frowned. "He didn't call me."

"Something wrong?" Clark asked.

"I hope not. I think he does know your big secret. Just something he said when he was here." Martha looked Clark in the eye.

"What big secret?" Clark's hands shook as he asked that question. His eyes opened a bit wider. He hoped this wasn't about him being a murder as one man he spoke to implied.

Martha looked down at the floor and sighed. She almost thought it best if Clark was back and Superman remained dead to the world. She didn't blame Lois for any of it, but she did agree that Clark was better off if nobody realized he was a powerful alien being. She hesitated in her response.

Clark misunderstood her reaction as disappointment. For him this confirmed that the nosey neighbor was right about him and Lois was wrong. "I think I know," he uttered in a soft voice as he gently shook his head. "You don't have to say it."

* * *

 **a/n**

Thank you to everyone who actually took the time to read this. I would love to know what you thought. Any guesses as to why Kara stopped the fight between Bruce and 'Jason'? What did you think of the misunderstanding between Clark and Martha? I would also like to take a moment to thank all of my new reviewers.

Barbacar - Thank you for all the comments. I appreciate you taking the time to give me feedback. You made some correct comments on constructive criticism like you are right that I try hard to avoid using the word said. I probably do this too much. You are the first to compliment me on how I wrote Clark. Thank you for that. All of your Gravity Falls stories have been a pleasure to read.

Bearhow – Thank you for your comments. I greatly appreciate your straight forward reviews and you actually answering the questions I pose at the end of each chapter. There are shapeshifters in DC. I only know of Beast Boy from reading your fics, so obviously it isn't him. Clayface from Batman is one. There is also the Martian Manhunter. He is a good guy so it isn't him. Certain versions of other villains are also shapeshifters, depending on what version of the character you are using. Thank you for reviewing my chapter in advance. I enjoyed your Teen Titans stories very much.

Csgt – Thank you for your comments. You are the second person to actually google Milton Fine, which is something I really appreciate. It shows a real level of interest. You asked me not to say if your guesses were right or wrong, so I am keeping quiet on that. I also love that you actually went back and reread the chat between Mercedes and Lex before deciding if what Milton told Lex was even plausible. When I wrote that, I hoped that people would do that. There was some evidence of this from the hit logs, but you are the first to review it. Both movies that this story is a sequel to didn't deal with red kryptonite. You are right that is going to be trouble. Thank you for reviewing my next chapter in advance. I greatly appreciated your suggestions. Thank you for exposing me to Ben 10. Your stories are a pleasure to read.

Sychronergy – Thank you for your comments. I am glad you seem to be liking how I am portraying the characters. By cannon Kara and Clark are both supposed to be about as pure white as you can get from an ethical standpoint. The movie BVS didn't follow it for Superman (Clark, Kal), so yes I made Kara a little darker than she is supposed to be, but not too dark. Thank you for also saying that my spelling and grammar were very good. I never feel sure of it. This story I used a new way of finding and fixing those kind of errors that I have not used on past stories. I am glad to have some indication that my approach is working. Thank you. I greatly enjoyed reading all of your stories, both your original ones and your fan fiction. All wonderfully written and psychologically complex.

Again, thanks to all of you. I did this in alphabetical order. I have enjoyed all of your stories too.


	21. How dangerous is he anyway?

**Kent Farm**

Even though neither of them mentioned Superman, Martha believed they were both talking about him. Martha could feel her heart beating just a little faster. Her late husband long ago warned of the social backlash Clark's abilities would bring and he was proven right given that her own life and the life of Lois Lane was deliberately put in danger purely because of their association to him. In her deepest of hearts, she wanted Clark to keep his abilities secret. She never wanted him to take on this Superman identity. "I guess the next move is yours. Are you going to pick up where you left off or let this be an opportunity for you to get a fresh start?" Martha held her breath as she asked that question.

Clark could hear his mother's heart beat faster. He could tell she was nervous. Yet her voice was so soothing and calm even though in his mind she was really asking if he was going to start murdering people again. "Definitely not. I want to leave the past behind me. Do you think a fresh start is possible after all I have done?" Clark asked.

"I am beginning to think anything is possible." Martha nodded with a warm smile. Clark couldn't help but to smile back.

Before an awkward moment of silence could linger on for too long, the phone rang. Martha wanted to ignore it. Her conversation with her son was far more important to her than whoever was on the phone. "Let me just silence that," she told her son.

"No, go ahead and answer it." Clark gave her a thoughtful look.

Martha glanced at the caller id. "It is your friend Mr. Wayne," she said before picking up and saying hello.

"Your son is headed your way. As fast as he is, he is probably already there," Bruce told Martha.

Martha winced as his statement definitely proved her fears that he already knew her son's big secret. "Yeah, he is," she admitted with a bit of a gasp.

"Tell him I got him an appointment with Dr. Fine." Bruce said.

"Who is Dr. Fine?" Martha asked. She could tell he was distracted, but she didn't dare ask why.

"Good question," Bruce admitted.

Clark tugged at Martha's blouse. "Someone who can help me get my memory back quickly," Clark said softly.

"Ok, thanks, I will let him know." Martha nodded.

* * *

 **Arkham**

Well on the phone, Bruce scouted around the building looking for 'Jason.' He began with the bathrooms since that was where Jason declared he was going. He looked down hallways, inside of offices, the stairwells, anywhere and everywhere he could find a hiding place. So far there was no sign of Jason, just one dead end after another.

Bruce quickly gave Martha the important information about when and where before a noisy commotion outside caught his attention. He looked out a window and spotted a motorcycle. As he looked around he realized there were lots of them colored green and purple. He read property of the Joker on the side of the bikes as he watched burly men dismount from their bikes. That is right, they just arrested the Joker last night and he was brought here. Then he spotted Jason walking toward the men. "I will call you back." Bruce ended the call abruptly without even waiting for a response. He kept his eyes trained on Jason.

Jason walked up to one of the bikes. He was about to get on when several of the Joker's men raced toward him. "That is my bike," one of them yelled out before throwing a fist at him.

"I seriously doubt you will be needing it anymore," Jason said calmly. His whole arm seemed to turn fluid like and transformed into a sharp sword-like blade. He swung right for the neck of the man who punched him and cut his head clean off.

As Jason's arm returned to normal, he kicked the head as it dropped. The man's head smashed into the side of the building. Bruce gasped as he watched, then he raced for the stairwell. Another of the Joker's men threw a knife at Jason. Jason caught the knife by the blade. His hand seemed completely unaffected. He hurled the knife right back at the man who threw it and impaled him right in the heart. The man clenched the knife, pulling it out. This only increased his bleeding. The man winced in pain and collapsed on his knees to the ground.

Another one of the Joker's men pulled out a gun. "You are going to pay for that you little punk!" He fired two quick shots at Jason with direct hits. "Strike!" He jumped up raising his arms.

Jason moved so fast that he caught the man mid-fall before his feet touched the ground. He held him up by his shirt. His free arm suddenly became spear-like. Then he impaled him through the heart. The man died before Jason slammed his body against the dirt.

Jason looked around at the rest of the Joker's men. His arm returned to normal. Bruce finally made his way out on the lawn in time to hear Jason ask "Who is next?"

"Hell no," one of the Joker's men called out. The group of them dispersed leaving Bruce alone with Jason.

"Oh, you again. Care to try your luck, now that Kara isn't here to protect you?" Jason asked coolly.

"She is your girlfriend. If anything, she was protecting you," Bruce declared.

"You read too much into it. She is not my girlfriend. She means nothing to me. We were just having fun." Jason looked him right in the eye. His expression didn't change in the slightest.

"Very believable." Bruce nodded. "But bull shit. First you pose as her to protect her from me, then…"

"I posed as her? You should be locked up here." Jason pointed at the sign for Arkham. "You sound crazy!" Bruce glared at Jason. "Angry? Good. Go ahead do something about it. Then you can join your parents." Bruce wanted to pound him to a bloody pulp for having the gall to even mention his parents. He heard the gasping of the one Jason didn't quite finish killing. "I will be sporting about it. I will even let you take the first shot," Jason declared without so much as a glimmer of fear in his eyes.

"Take the first shot," Bruce repeated. Bruce began to look around at the carnage Jason caused. Kara's voice echoed in his head. 'I can't let you do that.' He realized something about the way Jason chose his victims and decided to act on a hunch. "No, if you want to fight me, you take the first shot!"

"Nah, total waste of my time. Speaking of wasting time, you are wasting yours. You do realize those men are going to free the Joker, don't you," Jason taunted him again as he pointed to the side of the building. He looked over the motorcycle in front of him that he fully intended to steal. "Do you need any back up?"

"No thanks, I got enough people stabbing me in the back," Bruce declared.

"People like your former partner Alexander Luther?" Jason asked.

"Lex was never my partner," Bruce raised his voice.

"Very believable, but bull shit," Jason through Bruce's own words right back at him. "Just last night when you should have been slitting his throat, what do you do instead? You bring him a whore. What was that?" Jason asked.

Bruce paused briefly as at first he had no idea what he was talking about. Then he remembered he brought Helena to Lex's home last night. As much as it wasn't his usual style, the idea of slitting Lex's throat, certainly had some appeal, but he wouldn't do anything of the sort in front of Helena. "She is no whore. She is my daughter." Bruce gritted his teeth.

"Oh, I didn't realize she was your daughter. I just assumed she was a whore with the way she went at it with Lex all night. All I heard was oh Lex, oh my god Lex. Yes! Lex!" Jason mocked Helena.

"Shut up you lying son of a bitch," Bruce screeched. He didn't truly know Helena well enough to be completely sure this wasn't true, but the thought of Helena being intimate with Lex really turned his stomach.

"Your daughter you say? I wonder if Lex knows that. That didn't show up in any of his files, but I bet he would pay big bucks for that information." Jason nodded with a smug smile.

"Do that and I swear, I will," Bruce began to warn him.

"You will what?" Jason put his hand on his hip. "You and your pal Lex will conspire to kill me just like you did Superman."

"I already told you, Lex was never my partner," Bruce insisted.

"And as I said before bull shit! Since when does Superman respond to the bat signal? You launched it that night so Lex would know when to send Superman over. By holding his mother at gun point no less. Your idea or Lex's?" Jason asked.

"That son of a bitch! Is that what Lex is saying?" Bruce could feel his blood pressure going up. His face flushed red.

"Oh, no, no, no! That is what I am saying. Lex is totally throwing you under the bus and claiming his own innocence," Jason declared with a slight roll of his eyes.

"For someone who claims to have amnesia, you certainly know a lot!" Bruce clenched his fist. His jaw tightened into a bit of a scowl.

"Since you won't find me again unless I want to be found, I can tell you the truth. I am not Jason Todd. The real Jason Todd is alive. Don't bother looking for him. He, just like your daughter, wants nothing to do with you. Superman saves the world and you seek to kill him for it, yet you do nothing to the men who ruined his life." Jason declared just before he jumped on a motorcycle and drove away.

For the Joker's men to get this many in here, they obviously already blasted their way past the outer levels of security. Bruce knew Jason managed to kill three people in a span of only a few minutes. He was still disappointed with how slow the security was to respond. He was only now just beginning to hear the alarms inside the building going off. Security personnel arrived on scene, a bit too late.

* * *

A/N

As always, I would like to sincerely thank everyone who reviewed this story.


	22. Free the Joker?

**Justice League Begins – Free the Joker?**

 **Arkham – Dr. Fine's office**

Not long after Bruce left, Milton returned to his computer and started to type rather rapidly. Kara contemplated how she could talk Milton out of doing what she thought he was trying to do, yet her mind when about as blank as the walls of the office. A few pieces of furniture, the couch, the desk, a book shelf and sunshine pouring in from the balcony were the only things to disrupt the four blank white walls. The overly organized nature of the bookshelf looked almost artistic with books arranged by height and color.

"We really need to talk," Kara declared.

"Sure, but not here and not now. How about you go to the park? I can have Jason meet you there, if you like," Dr. Fine said calmly.

Although she knew how wrong this was, something about that appealed to Kara. She blushed and let out a nervous laugh. "You know, right up until you walked through that door, I thought he was you," Kara admitted.

"You thought he was me and you actually let him kiss you," Milton asked calmly.

"Bad judgement! I know! But now…" Kara began.

"But now you know he wasn't me," Milton interrupted just as calm as ever.

"That isn't what I was going to say," Kara replied.

"We can discuss this later. There is a good reason I didn't want you to come here anymore," Milton was going to say more, but this time it was Kara who interrupted him.

"Yeah, like you didn't want me to catch you killing someone!" Kara blurted out a bit louder than she intended. "He is actually trying to help Kal. He just doesn't realize all you're trying to do is…"

"He might be trying to buddy up to your cousin for now, but as soon as Kal does something he doesn't like, I guarantee he will be right back to trying to kill him. That is just a matter of time. You will see." Milton looked Kara right in the eye.

"You don't know that for sure," Kara doubted him.

"Oh, but I do," Milton responded.

"What did you do?" Kara could feel the rage building up inside, yet she knew acting on it would be a grave error. Her eyes glowed with a yellow energy. "My friend, Zadkiel, was right about you. I should have listened to him. Ironically, his blindness let him see you better than anyone!"

Suddenly, alarms sounded everywhere. Usually super hearing was an advantage for Kara, but right now, it felt more like a curse. She covered her ears. "Ahhhh, please make it stop!" Kara pleaded.

Milton touched the computer in the room. An invisible energy flowed through his hands. A few moments later, all the alarms suddenly stopped. "Better?" Milton questioned.

"Much!" Kara nodded and smiled.

"See, I am always looking out for you," Milton assured her. "But that alarm means there is some kind of emergency here. You really should go…"

"And help fix whatever the problem is," Kara stated.

* * *

 **Parking lot – Outside Arkham**

Elsewhere, Bruce wished to be in two places at once. He wanted to pursue Jason and he also wanted to stop the Joker's men. Barbara, better known as Batgirl, used to claim women were superior when it came to multitasking, but not today. As he rushed to his car, Bruce already started dialing for Alfred. He switched his phone to a hands free mode and didn't bother waiting for an answer before starting to change into the Dark Knight outfit.

Once Alfred answered, Bruce continued to get suited up while he gave instructions. He told Alfred to go to the bat cave and use the facial recognition software to find someone who looked like Jason Todd. He noted this man was extremely dangerous, much more so than the real Jason. He requested that Diana pursue him, but not engage under any circumstances.

Batman knew he heard the alarms go off, then suddenly all of them stopped. He was still pretty confident that whatever the trouble was, it wasn't over. He wondered if the Joker's men had a way of disabling the alarms. He rushed off to go stop the Joker's men. After everything the Joker did to both Jason and Barbara, the idea of simply killing the Joker certainly held a seductive appeal.

* * *

 **Front desk of Arkham**

The front office of Arkham pretty effectively hid much of the horrors within. The waiting area felt cozy with a fake fireplace, somewhat comfortable chairs, and tables stacked with an assorted collection of magazines. There was even a mini fridge stocked with soda, ice tea and bottled water. Scenic paintings depicting mountain ranges, a sunset, and an island paradise suggested a warm and inviting place, yet it was nothing of the sort.

The true horrors of Arkham rarely made its way to the front desk, yet today was an exception. Two of the Joker's men had the receptionist held at her desk at gun point. "Where are the Joker and Harley Quin?" one of them demanded to know.

"I don't know," the receptionist insisted. The little hairs on the back of her neck all stood up. She feared for her life.

Dr. Fine and Kara walked in from the stairs, about the same time Batman busted in from the front door. "Let her go. She doesn't know anything," Dr. Fine stated calmly.

Another of the Joker's men pointed a gun at Milton. "Then you tell me. Where are the Joker and Harley Quin?"

"They are on a private jet being transferred to another cell in Washington D.C. Their flight leaves in about an hour." Milton looked the man right in the eye.

Batman breathed a sigh of relief at the realization that the Joker's men had no chance of freeing them today, but that didn't automatically mean the men would just go away. They probably would free other dangerous prisoners, hurt or kill hospital staff and cause massive property damage.

"Oh, man, you can't be serious," the man looked Milton in the eye, hoping for a sign that he was lying, yet there was none. "I don't believe it!"

"See for yourself," Milton walked toward a door marked security followed closely behind by two of the Joker's men.

Batman used the batarang to knock the gun out of the man's hand who threatened the receptionist. The man quickly changed weapons and held a knife to the receptionist's throat. "Stand down or she dies! I will kill her!" Batman put his hands up.

"Don't kill her," Kara pleaded.

"Don't kill her," one of the Joker's men mocked her. "You should be more worried about what we are going to do to you. You are next."

"I don't think so!" Kara raced toward the man holding the knife so fast that they barely saw her. She forced the knife from his hand and shoved him into a wall. Then she raced back through and grabbed the receptionist and rushed her to a safer area. Her speed caused magazines to fly everywhere.

Now that there were no more innocent people here anymore, Batman proceeded to take down man after man one by one with a bit of ease. Several of the men opened fire on Batman, but his armor easily absorbed the shock. Batman did a sweep kick which knocked one of the men on his ass. Then he lunged forward and punched another one in the face. Another of the Joker's men picked up a chair and thrashed it against Batman's body. Batman could feel some pain from this, but for the most part, his armor took the brunt of the hit.

Kara returned rather suddenly. One of the remaining Joker's men looked her over. "Wait, isn't that the girl that tossed the J-man around like a rag doll," He asked. Kara just shrugged. She had no idea that J-man was a nick name for the Joker.

* * *

 **Security room**

Milton led two of the Joker's men to the surveillance room. This room totally lacked any windows to the outside world, yet various monitors showed just about every room in the complex and even outside areas too. One guy had his back turned to them as they entered. He watched the screens while still trying to figure out how to turn the alarms back on.

"Don't move or he gets it," the Joker's goon said to the security officer.

Milton pointed out all the monitors that showed images from all over the complex. "I told you, no sign of Harley or the Joker," Milton crossed his arms. He had an odd lack of concern with the threat of being shot.

The Joker's man read the name tag from the security officer's shirt. "Mike, show me where the Joker and Harley Quin are. Now!" he pointed a gun at his head.

"Ok!" Mike used the controls to show a particular cell on the screen. "What the!" Mike said when the monitor stopped on two empty cells. His hand went to his mouth. "They must have…"

"I told you, Ms. Waller ordered them transferred. They are on a private jet," Milton reiterated.

"On their way to Washington D. C., yeah, yeah, I heard you the first time. Which means I have no further use for either one of you." He quickly shot both men in the chest resulting in Mike going down. Milton didn't even flinch.

"You are de…" Milton began to speak. He stopped talking once he noticed Mike let out a healthy sigh of relief, and started getting back up on his feet.

The man who fired at them looked on stunned. He couldn't believe how ineffective his gun was.

"Thank goodness for bullet proof vests." Mike assumed Milton had one too.

"Looks like I will just have to aim higher," the man raised the gun to his head.

Milton easily forced the gun from the man's hand and pinned him to the floor. His grip was like iron. "Who are you?" the man winced. He could feel the circulation in his hand being cut off.

"Now you are going to tell your little band of thugs that they got the wrong location and lead them all out of here," Milton loosened his grip.

The Joker's man pulled out a little hand held short distance communicator. Just before he was about to speak, a voice came over the transmission. "Found them."

"Damn it!" Milton whacked him on the head, which made a loud thud.

"I am confused. They are still here?" Mike questioned with his eyes fixed on the monitors.

Milton ignored Mike and returned to the main room where Batman pretty much finished tying up the Joker's men. "They found the Joker. Let's go," Milton turned to the elevator. Kara and Batman both followed him.

He took them right to the bottom floor. This building had about three levels of basements. Because of his identity as Bruce Wayne, he knew the elevator shouldn't just open at the bottom floor, you needed a staff key. Milton definitely had one, but he didn't use it. The door just opened automatically. Now wasn't the time to question this. They raced to the holding cells that contained the Joker and Harley. They were in separate cells across the hall from each other with barred windows facing each other. One of the Joker's men was trying to pick the lock.

* * *

 **Holding area**

Batman used the Batarang and wrapped it around the man and tied him up.

"Sweetie! Why haven't you returned my calls?" The Joker grabbed the bars of the cage he was in and looked Kara in the eye. The bars suddenly triggered an electric pulse that zapped the Joker and forced him to let go.

"I always return your calls, Puddin," Harley called out from her cell.

"She is so stupid. She thinks I am talking to her." The Joker laughed and reached his hand out toward Kara.

"Me?" Kara only just began to realize the Joker was hitting on her.

"What? Why are you calling her sweetie?" Harley demanded to know.

"Good question. I have no idea," Kara admitted.

"Awe, sweetie that is because I don't know your name. But no matter, I can make one up for you. From now on, you will be known as Porsche!" the Joker grinned.

"Ignore him!" Batman suggested to Kara.

"What are you? Her father? She can talk to him if she wants to," Milton declared.

Batman gritted his teeth. Of course, Milton wanted to convince Kara that the human race are basically scum and what better way to do it then show her the worst examples of humanity. This was no different than when he told her to explore Gotham city to see for herself what human beings are like.

"Oh, she wants to. I can tell. Don't you Porsche?" the Joker gave a wide grin with a blood curdling laugh. The sound of his laughter brought a smile to Harley's face. Kara found it to be almost as annoying as the emergency alarms.

"No, I don't. I am not your friend," Kara insisted.

"I don't want you to be my friend. I want you to be my something else," the Joker laughed creepily.

"Why would you think I would even be remotely interested? We only met once and all I did was break your gun and…" Kara bit her lip as she realized she probably should not have said that in front of Milton. He warned her not to show off her powers in public.

"Hopefully, nobody saw you do this," Milton quietly said to Kara.

"Oh, I don't think anybody noticed," Kara gave an overly wide grin and tried her best to look innocent.

"Oh, nobody except several million football fans," Harley smirked. She quickly realized Milton had a problem with this girl taking the spotlight, so she smiled right at Kara. "I will bet all the cameras zoomed in on you when you tossed my Puddin right at me." She wanted the Joker to remember being thrown, so she had to remind him of that and question why he was hitting on her. "Do you remember that Puddin?"

"Of course, I do. It was love at first throw," the Joker explained with a chilling grin. "Don't worry sweetheart. I promise to throw you at some nice place in return."

"I suggest a volcano," Harley piped in again.

"That is never going to happen." Milton glared at the Joker.

"What are you? Her father?" the Joker laughed excessively loudly. "Let's see that awesome strength again! How about you rip this door right off the hinges?" the Joker suggested.

"But then you would escape," Kara said.

Batman found this turn of events very concerning. He had little doubt Kara couldn't destroy this entire building in record time and without that green rock, he had no chance of stopping her.

"Yeah, that would be the idea. How else Porsche, my dear are we supposed to have our first date? I already have it all planned out. We will start with a visit to the local slaughter house," the Joker laughed creepily.

"What?" Kara exclaimed as she didn't know what that even meant.

Harley picked up immediately on her puzzled expression. "Oh and I am the stupid one? She doesn't even know what a slaughterhouse is. Do you? It is so romantic. You are in for a real treat. Total stench of death. You will love it!" Harley grinned. The Joker just nodded at what Harley was saying.

"Then we will go to the history museum," The Joker said. Batman couldn't help but to wonder why on earth the Joker would have any interest in the history museum. Before he could ask, the Joker actually answered the question, with a gleam in his eye. "They recently opened an exhibition of medieval torture devices."

"Oh, Puddin, I thought you were going to take me to that," Harley pouted. She looked at him with pleading eyes.

"If you see anything you like, we can steal it for later," the Joker raised a brow at Kara. "Just a preview of all the fun things I will do to you later."

"Are you insane?" Kara asked.

"Yes, why, yes, I am," the Joker grinned at Kara as though she just paid him a huge compliment. "Then we will have a moonlit stroll through the cemetery," the Joker grinned.

"For a virgin sacrifice!" Harley nodded with a bit of a wild look in her eyes.

"You are a virgin, aren't you?" the Joker asked with a nod.

"None of your business," Kara crossed her arms.

"Yep, definitely a virgin," Harley said with a bit of a smirk.

"Shut up," Kara glared at her.

"Awe, it is ok to be a virgin," Harley said comfortingly. "Of course, I would rather be dead myself."

"I said shut up!" Kara glared in response to Harley's psychotic smile. Her eyes glowed yellow.

"Ignore her. She is just jealous. Come on! Be a bad girl. Show me your strength. Rip the door right off," the Joker pleaded.

"You want to see strength, ok," Kara moved close to the cage.

"Don't!" Milton called out to her.

"Trust me, I know what I am doing," Kara advanced to the door of the Joker's cage and stretched her hand to just outside the bars. The Joker reached his hand out for her. She grasped his hand. At first the Joker laughed, but then his expression changed to that of fear as Kara's grip got tighter. "Don't ever call me Porsche again. In fact, don't call me at all." She let go of his hand.

* * *

A/N

I would like to thank my beta readers bearhow, CSGT and Loki God of Evil. My beta readers go over this for sense of story and give suggestions. They don't correct spelling and grammar. I would also like to thanks to ZadArchie who allowed me to borrow his character Zadkiel. I do intend to have a future flashback chapter that explains exactly what Kara was talking about.


End file.
